Sheikah Mysteries
by MidnightTwi
Summary: Link finds an unconsious Sheikah girl and when she wakes, she finds that her memory is gone. They create a friendship, but the warrior holds a secret which she cannot even remember. And of course, chaos only gets Link even more involved. SheikxLink TP world, AU
1. Chapter 1: Finding

The sun was high in the afternoon sky as the wind gently blew across the land of Hyrule. It was a peaceful day in the town that existed below a mighty castle bearing the crest used for royal family members, three triangles forming one larger triangle of gold. Hyrule Town was busy as always, multiple people ran all around, visiting cafes, stores, and other places that spark people's attention. On the outside of the busy town, a boy clothed in a green tunic and matching hat looked through a small bag in front of a brown female horse, a white spot on her muzzle stretched between her eyes. A fairy circled around the boy as he pulled out some carrots.

"Here, Epona." the boy said as he held out the carrots to the horse.

The horse called Epona ate the food offering out of his hands as the small fairy circled around.

"Link, we should leave soon if we want to get home before sunset!"

The boy looked at the fairy with blue eyes framed by brownish hair with a few blonde strands of hair shown in streaks, and nodded.

"Yea, you're right..." Link said, lifting up his hat. "C'mon Navi."

The small fairy quickly flew into his hat and he set it back on his head before putting the remaining carrots into the bag and mounted on his horse. He pulled back on the reigns as Epona lifted up her front legs and put her weight on her back legs, whinnying into the air like a painting. Link gracefully stayed ontop of his steed as she fell back to the ground and gently kicked her to command her forward to his home. The wind blew through his bangs as he rode across the green fields. The Castle of Hyrule was an amazing view, but nothing compared to the fields of Hyrule.

_Or maybe I only think that because I'm a farm boy? _Link shrugged.

Sunset was nearing as the entrance to Ordon was finally visible. The mixed colors of red and yellow stretched across the land, the remaining blue in the sky turned a light shade of purple. Navi crawled out from his hat and held onto his shoulder as Link looked at her questionably.

"It's boring in there!" Navi complained before Link could object. "Besides, no offence, but this is a prettier view than the inside of your hat!"

"Fine just don't fall off and end up in the middle of nowhere like that one time."

Navi nodded and tightened her grip. The boy smiled and looked past his fairy friend to the land behind her. He admired the colors of the sunset. He blinked as he spotted a curious shadow on the ground and quickly pulled back on the reigns to stop Epona. Navi, now able to fly around, flew beside his face, almost showing her confusion.

"H-Hey, Navi..." Link started, keeping his eyes on the shadow. "What's that?"

Navi tilted her small head and followed his gaze to the shadow. She flew ahead as Link gently commanded Epona to follow close behind. A blue light radiated off of the fairy naturally, showing the highlighted outline of the creature, a humanoid figure. Navi gasped as Link halted his horse beside the stranger.

"Link! It's a person!" she exclaimed as Link quickly jumped off of his horse.

_How did someone get way out here?_ Link thought as he inspected the stranger.

The stranger was laying on his/her stomach, arms laid above the head, hiding the face. Almost like the person had fallen and never got up. The head was wrapped in a white bandage-like cloth, long blonde bangs laid in the face, hiding what the arms missed, and a blonde braid sprouted from the back and ended at the shoulder blades. The body appearance was feminine-like, a skinny waist that connected the ribcage to the pelvis. Her arms and legs were somewhat skinny while maintaining some muscle. The body was clothed in tight-fitting clothes and the cloth that was wrapped around her head was also wrapped around random areas, including her hands and fingers. On her back was a dagger in its case and a harp clung to her shoulder blades. Cuts existed on her left side and her arms, along with a few arrows stuck into her arms.

"Well..." Link began as he flipped her over on her back, showing closed eyes and a pretty face hiding behind hair and a scarf-like mask. The cut on her side was revealed to not be too deep, it didn't kill her or knock her out. "She must've lost too much blood and passed out or something physically knocked her out cold...I wonder where she's from...those aren't Hylian clothes."

"Link! She's bleeding; we have to get her to help! We can figure out where her home is after we save her!" Navi exclaimed, catching his attention.

"Right" Link agreed, picking up the limp girl and carrying her to Epona. He quickly got on with the wounded stranger, Farore knows how long she had been laying there, hurt and bleeding. Epona sprinted past a man with an afro selling lantern oil and towards Ordon. Link stopped her after crossing the bridge and turned her into the spring close by. A small waterfall poured healing water into the spring. He dismounted Epona holding the girl and waded into the spring.

"Link, I know this is a healing spring and all, but the process is slow, especially in her condition AND being unconscious tends to slow things down as well." Navi informed.

"Well, Ordon doesn't exactly have a doctor! We can at least make it easier for Uli, since she's the one with the most experience." Link argued. "And guardian fairies can't heal."

Navi flew up and down, giving the motion of nodding and flew towards the waterfall and past. Link blinked as she faded away, wondering what she was pulling off now. A few moments later, she returned with a fairy radiating a pinkish glow following behind. Link blinked again, wondering how in Din's name she knew that healing fairies were here.

"I have connections." Navi said, smiling to herself.

The pink fairy flew around the stranger in Link's arms, healing the cuts and mostly healing the cut on her side. The arrows were left untouched so that they could be removed before the skin would heal. Link smiled at Navi and the pink fairy.

"Thanks, fairy." He said as the fairy flew away. He turned to Navi. "I really need to stop underestimating your 'connections'...because it's kinda scary."

Navi smiled to herself as Link mounted back onto Epona and rode off to Ordon, Navi following close behind. Four kids waited in front of a tall tree house as Link rode in, stopping in front of them. The kids all smiled and ran up to Epona, looking up at Link.

"Link, could you _please_ make them shut up and teach them some new sword tricks?" the girl asked, her hands in a begging like style, which made her look just as interested. "They're _such_ kids!"

"Yea can you?" The taller boy said with a stick in hand, ignoring what the girl said about them being kids.

"Link..." the blonde boy said, walking shyly into the group. "...who's that?"

The kids attentions were finally on the stranger. Link looked at the blonde boy, their blue eyes met.

"Colin, where's your mother?"

Colin thought for a moment then looked back at Link. "She's at the house still."

Link nodded and rode into the actual village, the kids followed. He rode past the store and to a house on a hill before dismounting; a girl the same age as Link followed behind, green eyes examined Epona for scratches of any kind.

"What happened in Hyrule Town?" She asked before walking around the horse and seeing Link. "Umm...never mind about that. What happened to her?"

Link shrugged, Navi flew toward the girl.

"She was just in the middle of the field on our way here..." She explained.

"Well what are you doing just standing there? C'mon, Uli is right inside!" The girl said, knocking on the door.

"Yes, Ilia...why didn't I think of that?" Link said sarcastically.

_**Ok, so I came up with this chapter in the break of dawn because I couldn't sleep so cut me some slack if you think it's too rushed. I suck at beginings, I'll never overcome that. Well, I hope you guys enjoy it. Oh and by the way, incase you are wondering...in this fanfiction, I made Sheik her own person.**_

_**All characters in this story and the videogame series The Legend of Zelda do not belong to me.**_

_**-MidnightTwi**_


	2. Chapter 2: Legend of the Sheikah

_There was blood everywhere. Multiple people lay dead on the ground, only few could still fight. They were all clothed in tight wear bearing the same symbol and each had a weapon in their hands. She was one of the few living. Kunai in hand, she wasn't ready to give up. Arrows where strung at her as she gracefully avoided; only a few grazed her. She pulled one that managed to stick itself in her braid out and threw it to the ground, glaring at the attackers. More seemed to come. Suddenly, a woman pushed her out of the way. She looked up at the woman, seeing only a body in shadows with red eyes, yet she knew the woman._

_"Get out of here!" The woman in shadows yelled, holding a kunai in front of her in a defense position._

_She stared at the woman, hesitating to leave her behind. Finally, she budged, running. The woman attacked, killing many of their enemy's men._

_She'll be alright, she thought as she ran as she heard the metal clang against eachother as arrow met kunai._

_She ran into the fields of Hyrule, sure that she escaped and headed to where she and the woman would meet up. Hooves where heard as a large boar-like creature ran after her, gaining far more speed than her. She halted and spun around, kunai in one hand while a shuriken in the other. She watched as the boar got closer, seeing the passenger beginning to string a bow._

_"Too slow!" She yelled, throwing the shuriken and striking it in the chest. The passenger fell off and vanished into smoke._

_The driver glared and pulled out a club, ready to attack. She smirked; no way would he win against her. Suddenly, more boar creatures followed behind, each with a passenger armed with an arrow._

_"Damn it!" She muttered angrily, throwing the kunai and striking it in the forehead. She pulled two more kunai from the bandage-like cloth wrapped around her legs, waiting for an aim. The boars surrounded, stringing arrows at her while circling her like vultures. She threw kunai and shuriken as they strung, striking them as they struck her. Pain struck as the arrows were forced into her arms as she tried to attack and defend._

_Finally, with the last boar down, she stumbled her way onward as the passenger and driver where thrown off their ride. She needed to get to the meeting place quickly. Behind her, the driver got up, still alive and sneaked behind her with club in hand. With luck not on his side, he tripped, making a sound detectable to her. Quickly, he ran to her before she could attack. She grabbed a kunai before he could even get close. Direct hit, on both of them. The same moment the kunai was stabbed into the monster was the same moment the club made contact with her skull. They both fell, the monster dead. She watched as darkness surrounded her._

_"I'm sorry Impa." She whispered before her red eyes closed._

_She heard the sound of hooves and felt as if she were being carried. The wind blew through her bangs. Her whole body was numb, she couldn't move anything. But she could still feel the pain of the cuts, the arrows, and the pain echoing in her head. She slowly forced her eyes open, but her vision was blurred. As her vision sharpened, she was able to see a boy clothed in green, blue eyes watching ahead of him as his blonde-ish brown hair flew backwards with the wind. A ball of light clung to his shoulder. Her own head was rested on his other shoulder as he supported her to stay on the horse._

_Who was this boy? Where is he taking me?_

_And then, the darkness once again took over, forcing her eyes closed once again._

_Ugh..._

She lay in darkness, eyes remained shut. The outside world seemed to be just a myth. Her mind tried to command her arms or legs to move. Nothing. Her eyes wouldn't open either. It was like her body was weighed down. But why couldn't she move?

_Did those things capture me? That boy, did he do this? Am I...dead?_

Death. How would she know if she was dead anyway? She's never experienced close death before...

_Or have I?_

Everything was confusing to her, like everything was mixing together to get nothing. But the problem was, there was barely an "everything". So, was there really nothing?

"She'll be alright. None of the arrows did very much harm." She heard a sweet calm voice say, most likely a woman's voice.

"Do you think she'll wake up soon?" A younger but also female voice said, somewhat with concern.

"Well, she has an impressive knot on the back of her head. That's probably what knocked her out. So she should wake up soon, maybe by tomorrow. She looks strong." The woman said again.

_Who are these voices? _Her thoughts echoed in her mind. _Do they know me?_

The voices faded away into the darkness, her own thoughts seemed to fade with them. Into the dark.

_Is this...a dream?_ Her last thought echoed, sending her into pitch black.

Link and Ilia both sighed in relief as Uli's words.

"I'll say by tomorrow she'll be awake." Uli said, smiling at the teens.

Uli was a middle-aged woman, mother of Colin. She shared the blonde hair and blue eyes, a truly pretty woman and mother. Her blonde hair was cut in a boyish style, short and layered, which showed her blue eyes even more. She wore a white long-sleeved shirt with regular blue pants that ended right above her ankles, showing the sandals on her feet. Although not much skin showed, anyone could tell by the way her skin almost matches her shirt that she had a very pretty pale skin tone.

"So, we have a surprise resident?" A strong male voice asked.

Uli smiled as a man with a somewhat heavy body and a white mustache that almost resembled horns walked in and put his hands on his hips. His wardrobe was a simple white tunic-typed shirt with no sleeves along with a green cloth wrapped around his waist. He also wore few bangles around both biceps and wrists, a dog tag necklace around his neck.

"Hello Mayor Bo." Uli greeted.

"Hi Dad!" Ilia said, smiling like a good little girl.

The Mayor smiled at Ilia before looking down at the girl, her arms wrapped in bandages that were soaked in the healing springs nearby to heal the remaining wounds left behind by the arrows. The large symbol on her outfit caught his attention.

"Hmmm...the symbol of an eye with a teardrop..." He thought out loud.

The other three stared at him as he thought. Ilia stood forward.

"You've seen that symbol before?"

"Only in texts. The symbol of an eye with a teardrop is the symbol of the Sheikah race." Mayor said, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Sheikah race?" Link asked, confused. The Mayor nodded.

"The Sheikah is a race not many people nowadays recognize. Many call them the Shadow Folk, the Shadows of Hyrule. I read that according to a myth, the Royal Family used to be partners with the Sheikah. But as time passed, they just seemed to disappear. They're supposed to be extinct a long time ago..." Mayor Bo looked back down at the girl. "Apparently not."

"'The Shadows of Hyrule'?" Link repeated in question.

"That seems a little rude." Ilia said, thinking about the name.

"Yes. But in a way, they vanished just like the shadows. I wonder where they've been hiding all this time." Mayor Bo wondered. "Anyway, just how did she get here?"

"I found her on my way back from Hyrule Castle. She was in worse shape when I found her in the middle of nowhere."

"Hmmm I see...well, I suppose we can worry about the girl when she wakes, so onto other topics..." Mayor Bo said, looking down at Link. "What was going on in Hyrule?"

Link shrugged.

"Nothing really. Same as usual. I'll go get the package."

Link exited the house and walked to Epona, opening the bag hooked onto her saddle and lifting out another bag. Epona whinnied at him as he gently brushed his hand over her soft neck before reentering Uli and Colin's house. He handed the package to Mayor Bo.

"Ah, thank you Link." The Mayor thanked, holding his package gently as if it were a wounded dove.

"Oh and did you find Rusl while you were there?" Uli asked.

"No, he wasn't in Telma's Bar like he usually is. Telma said that he headed to Kakariko before I even got to Hyrule Town." Link explained.

"Well, I hope he returns home soon." Uli said softly, her hand gently over her chest as if she were holding her own heart in waiting.

"I'm sure he will. He can't stay away from you and Colin for too long!" Ilia said, smiling.

Link looked out the window at the upcoming night sky. The colors of sunset had faded away into the dark blue sky as few stars appeared, the light of the moon barely lit up the ground as the sun was vanishing.

"I should drop by the farm before I go home and make sure the goats are good." Link thought out loud, stepping toward the door. "Come and get me when she wakes up."

Uli nodded as Link walked out and onto Epona, heading towards the farm to take care of the livestock for the day. Mayor Bo shook his head sadly, knowing that the owner of the ranch would end up pushing the job onto Link again since his own skills at herding were not as good. Even though he felt sorry for Link, he was glad there was at least one person who would keep their livestock in the village. He didn't like to trust his neighbor, owner of the Ordon Ranch.

The young farm boy gently pet his horse before jumping onto the left stirrup and swinging his other leg to the right stirrup, allowing himself onto the seat of the saddle. He grabbed the reins and prepared to head towards the ranch.

"Ummm...Link?" A small voice said, stopping the farm boy. Link turned his head over his shoulder to look at Colin, the young blonde boy who resembled his mother. Link smiled as Colin fidgeted with his hands, trying to find words. "Did you...talk to dad when you were in Hyrule?"

"Nah, I missed him. He was already headed to Kakariko by the time I got there." Link said, smiling at the boy.

"Oh...ok."

Link felt just a little sorry for Colin, seeing the disappointed look on his face. He smiled again.

"But when I do see him, I'll run over and demand he comes home to see you guys. Alright?"

Colin smiled at him. "Thanks Link."

Link nodded and continued on to the ranch to shut it up for the day. The Hylians may be immune to it, but for an Ordonian to be there all day, it really tires a person out. He hoped that the goats would be a quick chore so he could finally get to bed.

_**Incase some of you don't know, a kunai is one of the dagger-like weapons that ninjas are usually seen with, same with shuriken. And the stirrup is the part of the saddle that the rider puts their foot into to actually get on the horse. (I think. Tell me if I'm wrong.)**_

_**Well anyway here's chapter 2. Enjoy and feel free to review.**_

_**~MidnightTwi**_


	3. Chapter 3: Waking up

_Feeling slowly returned as her consciousness eased back. She laid on her back, her fingers could feel the cotton cloth under and over her. She almost feared opening her eyes, unaware of where she would be, who would be there, and what had happened. Keeping her eyes closed, she searched her mind for what she remembered. Fighting, blood everywhere, running for her life, leaving a woman behind. Her heart ached as she thought of leaving the woman that commanded her to run. Then fighting again, only to be taken down. But for what reason? She wondered. Then the image of a boy riding a horse, a ball of light beside him. Then the voices. Then nothing at all until now. That was all that remained in her memory._

_Who was that woman? She asked herself in her thoughts, Why do I feel like she's a close friend? I don't know her. Why can't I remember anything else? Who was that boy and the voices? What happened to me?_

_Who am I, anyway?_

She took the chance and slowly opened her eyes, staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. She blinked as her vision sharpened from it's blurry stage and looked over to her surroundings, spotting the back of a woman, her blonde hair cut short. She wondered if that woman knew her, or what happened to her. She slowly sat up, feeling pain in her muscles as they were used. She must've let her pain be known; the woman glanced behind her and her eyes widened. The girl held her head with her hand, feeling the pulsing pain though her skull, as if her brain and skull were expanding. The woman quickly hurried over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't move too much, you're still in pain." She said, showing a soft smile.

The girl just stared at her through her blonde bangs, wondering if by some chance, she did know her. She wondered if she was on the side of whoever was chasing her, or if she was on the woman she left's side.

"Wh-Where am I?" She asked.

"It's ok, you're in Ordon Village. You're safe here." The woman said with a sweet smile, her eyes showed kindness.

The girl just looked at her lap in response, not sure whether to believe her or not. The woman noticed her conflict and walked over to the window beside the door.

"Colin! Could you go get Link please?"

The girl thought as the woman spoke. She recognized her voice, one of the voices she had heard as she slipped into unconsciousness. She stared at the woman through her bangs as she turned around and smiled at her.

"Do...I...Do you know me?" The confused girl asked.

"Not that I am aware of...my name is Uli." The woman said, a smile still remained on her face.

The girl looked back at her lap in response. She was hoping for some answers, but this woman couldn't provide them. She didn't know whether to run or believe that she was safe in this village. The door soon opened as a young boy walked in, his hair the same color as Uli's. He quickly ran to her side and stared at the stranger. The woman smiled at the boy.

"This is my son, Colin..." She explained, kneeling down to her son lovingly.

The girl simply nodded in reply before staring back at her lap. The woman looked at her son.

"Where's Link?" She asked.

"Umm...He was sleeping when I came and he said that he'll be here soon." Colin explained.

"Oh, poor boy probably had to work hard last night at the farm."

"And Malo, Talo, and Beth convinced him to show them more sword moves."

Uli sighed. "Those kids. Link has a handful almost daily."

The girl remained silent. Uli tried to show a kind smile, a smile that said "Everything's ok. You're safe." but it was useless when the girl refused to look up, hiding behind her blonde bangs and stray hair that had fallen out of her messed-up braid.

"...Umm, may I have your name?" Uli asked, hoping for an actual answer instead of a nod or silence. The girl actually looked at her, one eye hidden by her hair, her other hidden by the shadows of her hair. She stared at her for a while, until she began to open her mouth for a response. Then the knock on the door silenced her. Uli looked at the door in disappointment and allowed access to the farm boy she sent for.

"Ah there you are!" She said sweetly, letting the boy in.

The girl nearly 'd seen him before, the boy who was on the horse with the ball of light. Same blue eyes, green wardrobe, the exact replica. She put the pieces together, he brought her here. The reason remained unknown to her. Were they really trying to help her, or was there lies behind Uli's innocent smile? Where they against her? The boy in the green tunic looked over at her, noticing her eyes being in thought. She quickly looked back down at her lap.

"So you're awake." He started, walking into the house as Uli shut the door behind him. He paused for a response. After receiving silence he continued. "My name's Link."

"He's the one who found you yesterday." Uli added.

"Yea, but you're in better shape today than yesterday. Uli's a good nurse, right?"

The girl glanced up at them, wondering what to trust. If she had information about what happened, she'd use it to determine if these people were friends or foes, but that was hard when all you remembered was small fragments of few memories, which had to have happened recently.

"So...what happened anyway?" Link asked out of curiosity.

"Link! Don't be rude!" Uli scolded, as if scolding her own son. Link fell silent as Uli smiled at her again.

"...ummm..." The girl started, only to be cut off once again by the door.

Uli sighed with a hint of irritation and passed the clueless Link, opening the door once again. She nodded at whoever was at the door and looked back at Link.

"Link, Colin, keep her company." She said before walking out the door.

Link glanced back at the stranger, not realizing until now that she was in the process of standing up. By the time he opened his mouth to warn her about her injuries, she was already up. He closed his mouth and let her be. He let the silence speak while he thought of something to say. But what do you say to a random stranger you don't even know? He was about to ask for her name when she spoke.

"You're name is Link, correct?" She asked under her scarf-like mask.

"Yea. Can I call you something?" Link asked.

"...Ummm..." She seemed hesitant. Link stared at her as she thought.

"Well, assuming you have a name." He joked, rubbing the back of his neck, hoping for her to smile or reply.

"I assume I do. Do I?"

Link stared at her with blue eyes, unsure if she was serious or replying to the joke he was implying earlier. Behind him, Colin was wondering the same thing.

"Umm...is there something I can call you?" He asked again.

"...I assume none of you do know me." She said, almost in disappointment.

Link blinked, wondering what was going on. He thought over it for a moment and decided to pass that question.

"So...just asking but are you a Sheikah?"

She thought for a moment. _Sheikah...that word sounded familiar. But what was it? What did it mean?_

In the middle of her thoughts, Uli opened the door once again, letting both herself and a somewhat heavy man in.

"Mayor Bo!" Link exclaimed.

"No need to sound so surprised Link!" Mayor Bo said, patting Link on the shoulder. His attention automatically switched to the girl with the eye symbol on her chest. "Ah! She really is awake! We welcome you, it is quite exciting to have a living Sheikah here!"

She stared at him, still trying to figure out why the word "Sheikah" was so familiar.

"Ummm...why do you call me a Sheikah?" She asked. Mayor Bo inspected her from afar, seemingly deep in thought.

"Well judging by what I researched last night, you sure do look like one!" He said, going through the list of things that a Sheikah possesses in his head. "Although I cannot see your eyes..."

As he spoke, he took a step toward her, wanting to check her eyes for the most important part of a Sheikah. The girl quickly jumped back, wielding a kunai in front of her in defense that seemed to come from nowhere. She didn't know how she knew it was in the wrapping around her leg, but it seemed like instinct. Mayor Bo automatically raised his hands.

"Please, Sheikah, I mean no harm to you." He said in a calm tone.

She stared at him, her blood red eyes fully visible, and put her weapon down keeping her hand around the handle in case it was a trap. Mayor Bo sighed in relief, but the girl kept them all in her vision. Why she was so alert was unknown, but at this moment, she trusted her instincts. She kept her blood glare on them.

"What happened to me?" She asked, her voice demanding an answer, contradicting her personality from a few seconds ago.

They all stared at her, not making sense to what she said. After a moment, Uli gasped.

"Oh no..." She said under her breath, her words only noticed by Link. He looked over at her, confused.

Noticing that no one was answering her, she glanced around her surroundings, noticing an open window close behind her. Once again trusting her instincts, she jumped through the open window, landing in a perfect somersault. Once her feet hit the ground at the end of the somersault, she paused as the muscle pain set in.

"Wait!" She heard Uli say, rushing to the window. She quickly ran through the village, passing the houses and a confused man near the house closest to the exit she was running to. Link cursed and ran out the door; Uli attempted to stop him but failed.

He sprinted after her, wondering what possessed the stranger to spontaneously jump out of the window after being in the same shape she was in. He ran into the opening where a house existed in a tree, a scarecrow to the side and targets on the trees. He glanced around, looking for the stranger, no trace existed. He sighed, not wanting to admit defeat.

"Link what's wrong?" A voice asked, the source coming from a flying ball of light. Link looked at Navi and glanced around again. He'd almost forgotten that he left her at home.

"Great. I lost her." He said, obviously ticked off.

"...Ya know she went by here right? I've been up for a while." Navi said, her tiny arms crossed.

"...Then lead the way!" Link said ready to follow. Navi sighed.

"You need to be able to rely on me at least SOMETIMES!" She complained before flying ahead into the woods, followed by Link.

* * *

**_Sorry for not being active for a while, kinda hard to do when you're me. HAHA! (I mean that as I am forgetful and lazy)_**

**_Anyway, chapter 3, hopefully this will get easier to write. Writers block has found me again, and I've been distracted as well. My birthday just passed (Jan 24) and I went to my favorite band's concerts (A7X) and my brother's aniversary passed as well (Feb 1) and right when I gained control of myself again, mother gets sick. *sigh* Anyway, enjoy and feel free to review._**


	4. Chapter 4: Freedom

The wind blew through her bangs as she sprinted through the woods, her braid swung behind her. Even in the motion of running with the wind blowing past her, her scarf-like mask stayed over her mouth, hiding her face from the nose down. A kunai was held in her palm, her fingers clenched around its handle. The green trees and grass seemed like a blur as she passed them, the blur of a spring passed by as she kept running. Her eyes widened before she stopped dead in front of a gate decorated with a lock, beyond the closed gate was a long bridge. She glared at the lock, cursing that it forbids her from exiting the unknown village and the unknown people. She glanced behind her, checking for anyone who could've followed her.

Nothing.

She glanced down at the kunai in her hand and back at the lock, the only thing she remembered returned, instinct. She dropped to her knees and lifted up the lock and stared scratching the key entry with her kunai, attempting to pick the lock. Moving her weapon in any position possible to quickly free herself from this place, she focused on the lock. The distant sound of footsteps reached her pointed ears, she quickly stopped working and glanced behind her.

_Damn. They did follow me. What is it that they want?_

She took the kunai out and tugged on the lock, hoping she loosened it enough to escape. Having no luck, she quickly glanced over her shoulder again as the footsteps got closer. She thought she saw a small source of light, but she focused on escaping.

Thinking fast, the Sheikah girl grabbed the gate and attempted to climb, hoping she was quick enough to escape without injury. She was nearly at the rim when the footsteps stopped, the last step sounding dangerously close. She froze, sensing the presence of another being. She heard the slight huffing of the one who chased her.

"Wait...a minute." The boy who chased her said, quickly catching his breath.

She slowly looked over her shoulder, hiding her red eyes with her hair while seeing the green clothed boy through it. He glared at her with blue eyes, dangerously close.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He yelled, obviously ticked off. "All we're trying..." He took another step forward as he spoke. "...to do is..."

The girl let go of the gate with her left hand and swung it back behind her and grabbing onto the gate on her right side, changing her position to her back against the gate and quickly lifted herself up and propped her feet against the gate before jumping forward. The boy watched in amazement as she flew over him and landed a few feet behind him, the second she landed she took off again.

"HEY WAIT A SECOND!" Link yelled running after her again.

The girl turned into the Goddess's Spring and away from his sight. A small ball of light peered out from under his hat as Link ran to the spring. He turned into the opening to a vacant source of water, the girl no where in sight.

"Link..." The fairy whispered, "Listen, I think she's probably confused. I mean all of a sudden she's in our village. Wouldn't you be startled as well?"

"I guess." Link sighed, letting his frustration fade away. He looked forward to the spring. "I know you're in here. Look, we're just trying to help you."

Silence was his reply. He sighed again as his fairy flew into view. He glanced around and waited for her to show, the only way out was the exit behind him and the secret hole in the wall beside him. She'd have to get past him before she could taste freedom. And she realized that as she looked over the corner of the relic she hid behind, keeping herself in shadow. She sighed silently through her scarf mask before walking out into view. Both Link and his guardian fairy looked forward, keeping her in their view.

"...and why should I believe anything you say?" The girl asked, keeping her eyes hidden in the shadows of her hair. "I don't know anything about this village of yours."

She lifted her kunai into sight, its metal surface shone in the sunlight. Link sighed as he drew his own sword, its metal surface also shone, matching the kunai's beauty of homicide.

"Link!" The fairy half-whispered.

Link glanced at the fairy with blue eyes and took a step toward the girl that was ready to fight if it meant her freedom. He pointed the sword at her with a straight arm, the tip of the sword barely five feet away from her. She tightened her grip around her weapon's handle, waiting for him to strike. His blue eyes were in a slight glare, like a wolf's as he held his weapon.

His eyes were still locked with hers as he let go of the handle. His arm was still straight out with his hand unclenched around his weapon as the sword he held splashed into the water and hit the shallow sand under it.

"I'm not here to fight." Link said, keeping eye contact.

The girl's eyes slightly widened, unsure if it was a trap or not. She scanned the position.

The sword was his only weapon on him, not even a shield was strapped to his back. There was no one else around in ambush, except for the fairy beside him. She slowly began to believe him, but she refused to get go of her defense in case she was wrong. Link dropped his arm back to his side and lifted the blade out of the clear pure water with his foot and kicked it behind him onto the dry sand in front of the exit, still keeping eye contact.

"Believe me now?" He asked calmly, holding his hand out to her. "I don't know what happened to you out in the field, but here you're safe."

He didn't seem to be lying; he was just trying to help. She stared down at him from the ledge she was standing on and slid the kunai back into her bandages on her leg that she found it originally, the weapon blended into the cloth perfectly. Link wondered how many weapons were hidden on her as she looked back at him, noticing that he was in thought. Hesitant, she jumped down from the ledge onto the sand in the shallow water, keeping a good distance. Link smiled innocently, hoping she didn't fear him too much.

"Can I have a name now? It doesn't have to be your real name, a nickname will do." He asked, hoping she'll at least give him that.

"I can't." She replied. Link refused to just let it drop there.

"Even a fake name will do. Anything that will make you feel comfortable that I won't turn on you."

"I don't know."

"Anything you come up with will be your name here." Link said again, arching an eyebrow.

"I mean I don't know my name or nickname if I have one." She said, staring at the ground below her. "I don't remember."

Link's eyes widened at her reply.

_She has amnesia? _He thought, remembering what she said at Uli's house before she ran out.

_"Well, assuming you have a name." He joked, rubbing the back of his neck, hoping for her to smile or reply.__  
__"I assume I do. Do I?"_

Then, he thought she was just replying to his implied joke, but now it made sense. He glanced at his fairy, sensing her shock.

"Sorry." He apologized, rubbing his neck.

Silence was his reply once again. After a few moments, she glanced at the fairy beside him.

"Oh, this is Navi." Link explained. "She's a friend of mine."

Navi flew in front of Link and the girl, her tiny face smiling.

"Hello!" She greeted, hoping to lighten up the mood. She was a fairy after all.

Navi also got silence as a reply from the girl with amnesia. She stared sadly at the girl, her light showed her eyes that were hidden by shadows before. She stared at the girl's blood red eyes, unsure if they were scary or pretty. The girl glanced up, noticing the fairy's decision.

"Wow, your eyes are really cool!" Navi complemented. The ruby eyed girl quickly hid her eyes under her hair at the fairy's complement.

Link stood clueless, but dismissed it. He sidestepped to the right, letting the exit in her sight.

"We should probably get back, maybe Uli or Mayor Bo can help you."

* * *

**_Yea sorry for the short chapter, I've had some writer's block and my love of anime got in the way too. But here it is, and sorry if the action scene where the "unknown girl" (even though its obvious who she is) jumps over Link, I suck at action scenes._**

**_Well hopefully it'll get better, I'm trying my hardest to get things done quicker. Enjoy and feel free to reveiw._**

**_-MidnightTwi_**


	5. Chapter 5: Name

"Amnesia, huh?" Mayor Bo thought out loud, his hand on his chin.

The Sheikah girl stood in silence, staring at the floor of Uli's house. Link nodded beside her.

"Oh...that is what I feared..." Uli said in a sad tone. "The knot on the back of your head didn't look too serious, but I assume that is the source of your memory loss."

The girl rubbed the back of her head, finding the knot under her loose braid.

"So no memory at all?" Mayor Bo asked as the girl dropped her hand from her head. "Not even the smallest fragment?"

She thought for a moment, unsure if she should share the only memory she had with them. She shook her head in reply. The mayor looked disappointed.

"The first one to look like a Sheikah in years shows up, but no memory is left. Only the goddesses can choose that fate."

"So you believe I am a Sheikah, even though apparently I am the first to show up in a while?" The girl asked.

The mayor thought for a while before replying.

"You are the same build as the books describe, you wear the same type of clothing, and you have the symbol of the Sheikah race on your clothes. You have the same ears as Hylians and your eyes are the same color. In other words, yes I do think you are a Sheikah."

The girl nodded, glad that there was something she could start with. She fit the picture, and she decided to take it. She was a Sheikah, and so far that's all she knew. Uli thought for a moment.

"You don't remember your name either, right?" She asked the girl, as she shook her head in reply.

"We can give her a name." Colin said shyly. "Maybe she'll remember."

The room was silent in thought; the girl looked up at them.

"That could work." She said, hoping that maybe she could get some sense of Déjà vu.

"Alright then..." Uli said, thinking for a good name.

"Shadow?" Mayor Bo said, obviously taking it from _The Shadows of Hyrule_ nickname.

The girl shook her head.

"What about Amny?" Colin asked. "Like from amnesia."

The girl smirked slightly.

"Xaviera?" Uli said out loud, trying to find a more Sheikah-sounding name.

A few moments went by as they all went through random names, and still no luck. The girl sighed, giving up with the rest of them.

"How about we just give her a nickname?" Navi suggested, sitting on Link's shoulder.

They all thought for a moment until Link snapped his fingers with an idea.

"Yea, we can just take something from 'Sheikah' for now." Link said. "Something simple like...Sheik!"

The Sheikah girl's eyes widened at the sound of the name. It sounded way too familiar, even more familiar than a simple Sheikah Girl for a name.

"I like it." She said, causing everyone to look at her. "It sounds...right."

_There's no way I could've come up with her real name like that! _Link thought. _But she seems to be familiar with it..._

"Alright then, we'll call you Sheik." Uli said, proud that there was some way her memory could be jogged.

Sheik smiled slightly under her scarf, also relieved that she could remember. She was close to being 100% sure that Link's idea really was her name, and that's all that mattered to her now. Mayor Bo looked back at her.

"Now that that is settled, where shall Sheik stay?" He asked, rubbing his chin again.

Uli walked to her and smiled.

"You can stay here if you like." She offered, smiling at the ruby-eyed girl. "Colin and I won't mind."

Colin hurried by his mother's side and nodded, also sprouting a smile. Before Sheik could say anything the mayor placed his hands on his hips.

"Perfect! She can stay here! Now, I am going to head home and clean up my study. Link, can you head over and make sure Fado hasn't hurt himself with the goats today?"

Link nodded in reply, understanding what he meant. He looked over at the new resident with a smile.

"Well I'll see you later then." He said before walking out the door, followed by Mayor Bo.

Colin looked up at his mother as the door closed.

"Can I play with Beth, Talo, and Malo, Mom?"

"Sure go ahead." Uli said with a smile as Colin also exited. She smiled back at Sheik as the door closed again.

"Are you sure I can stay?" Sheik asked.

"Of course! To be honest, I've always wondered what it was like to have another girl here. And Colin has always wanted a sister, little or older doesn't matter to him."

Sheik stayed silent at Uli's reply, still unsure. Uli kept her smile at her and held out her hand.

"Also, it lets me keep an eye on your wounds." The mother continued. "Do you mind if I have a look?

She inspected the arrow wounds and cuts on her arms as she unwrapped the bandages. The cuts were now sealed shut by dehydrated blood; they seemed smaller than the day before. She moved her attention to her side, even though Link said he used a fairy's help, it was still slightly bleeding when she arrived. But now it was also sealed shut by dried blood and in much better condition than before. Uli smiled, proud of her small knowledge in being a nurse, even though it was all from simply being a mother. She glanced at the slightly red bandages and gathered them in a pile.

"Well it's much better than yesterday, I'm quite surprised." Uli said. "You can take a quick shower if you wish; I still have some of my clothes from back when I had a figure like yours that you can borrow."

Sheik glanced down at the clothes she had borrowed from Uli, a plain casual-looking dress. The front of the dress had material that reached up and connected around her neck, the same connection was on the back as well. The material that held the dress up was thick enough to act as sleeves as well, even though it ended barely past her shoulders. A layer of material was wrapped around her waist with a ribbon, slightly like what Mayor Bo wears around his own waist. The skirt of the dress was casual, making it easy to move in. The dress was a midnight blue color, the waist was a deep purple. Uli put fresh white bandages around her waist before and was currently working on the arms, just in case the cuts were to open again. Her right hand was wrapped in cloth-like bandages and was ignored by Uli as she worked.

"It's probably a little weird being in a dress, huh? You don't seem like a dress girl." Uli said as she finished bandaging her arms. "I'll try to clean and sew up your Sheikah outfit so you won't have to adjust to wearing a dress."

Sheik smiled in reply, her face visible for the first time. Her blonde hair was still slightly wet from the water, so her hair didn't move as freely as when dry. Her red eyes were slightly visible. She stood from the couch and looked at her bandaged arms.

"Thank you." She said, not sure how to really show her thanks. Uli smiled at her as if saying 'your welcome'. Sheik glanced down at Uli. "Umm...I guess I should take a walk or something, familiarize myself."

"Oh, Link is probably almost done with the goats for now, why don't you wait and ask him to give you a tour?"

"...No, I'll be fine." Sheik said, heading for the wooden door.

* * *

**_Another short chapter, I know. Sorry about that, I'm just trying to get past the begining stuff so I can get to the actual action. At least now we can call her Sheik instead of "Sheikah girl" all the time because that was starting to annoy me; having to type that all the time._**

**_Well enjoy and feel free to review._**


	6. Chapter 6: Epona's Song

Her hair lay loosely on her back, drying in the sun. Her long bangs created an almost curtain on the sides of her face, the gaps in her bangs showed her ruby eyes. She sat on the dry sand beside the Goddess's Spring, hugging her knees in front of her. The dark fabric of the borrowed dress soaked up the sunlight, warming her. The natural breeze along with the sunlight kept her in perfect warmth. The light that peered through the trees reflected off the water, adding beauty to the spring. She stared at the pure water, she looked deep in thought, but in reality she just let her mind go blank.

Link stopped at the entrance gate to the spring, noticing her. He leaned against the gate, looking down at the girl with no memories. He held an item wrapped in cloth in his arms.

"Sheik?" He asked, the girl jumped a bit and looked back at him.

"Oh, it's you." She said, turning around slightly in her seat.

Link blinked at the major difference. Even though he only saw her in her Sheikah outfit a few times, he got a completely different look from her in Uli's old dress. Her hair was no longer in a braid; it freely lay on her back, showing that her hair was slightly layered. Her pointed ears showed out more, before it seemed she hid them behind her braid and bangs, now he could see the tips of her ears. Her face wasn't completely hidden anymore without the scarf around her neck, her bangs still attempted to hide it though. The lack of skin-tight clothing changed her appearance as well. Before, he noticed a layer of bandages over her chest under the material where the Sheikah symbol was, but he never really thought about its purpose. Now with the regular dress, her chest showed slightly more than in her Sheikah outfit.

Link blushed slightly when that difference entered his mind. He casually brushed his bangs out of his eyes as he spoke.

"Umm...so, what are you doing out here anyway?"

"Nothing really." Sheik said, facing the water again and shrugging.

Link sat beside her on the sand, glad to be able to relax after caring for the goats. He suddenly remembered why he was looking for her.

"Oh right, I found this on you when I found you in the field." Link said, handing the item wrapped in cloth to her. "Uli reminded me about it when I went by there earlier."

Sheik straightened her legs out and placed the item on her lap and took the cloth wrapped around it off. The silver rim shone in the sunlight as it was revealed, the strings almost invisible. She held up the harp, feeling the tight strings with her fingers.

"Go on, play it." Link urged. "Maybe you'll remember something."

"I don't know any songs."

Link thought for a moment. It was true that she wouldn't remember any songs, but he hoped she would at least remember one. He glanced around and smiled before picking something from the ground. He held up a unique piece of grass, the bud was a brown horse shoe shape with a pattern of holes in it.

"Try this song." Link said before holding the bud to his lips, cupping his hand on the other side and blowing through one of the open holes. A soft song played, he tried to play it as silently as possible. Playing the song twice, he looked over at her and waited for her to mimic the song. Sheik sighed and held the harp up with one arm and strummed the first note, followed by the second and third. She played the song perfectly and clearly, the sounds seemed to echo through the forest. Link smiled as she played; amazed that she mimicked every note perfectly. Sheik soon felt something press against her back and she stopped playing. She soon heard a snort behind her; the breath from the animal hit her instantly. It was extremely close. She quickly spun around and stood, facing the creature that snuck up on her.

The brown horse snorted again and took a step back. Link laughed slightly and also stood up. Sheik looked at him questionably.

"She really loves that song." Link explained, walking up to the horse and petting her soft neck. "I call that Epona's Song."

"Epona?"

"Yea, that's her name." Link said, smiling at his horse. "I guess hearing it from a harp instead of a whistle confused her a bit, she's usually faster."

Epona looked at Sheik and snorted again before taking a small step toward her, but still keeping a small distance.

"She's pretty timid around strangers." Link explained, petting the white streak on her muzzle. "So it might take her a while to get used to you. But now she knows you're not an enemy."

Epona moved her head toward Link, nearly shoving him to the ground with her strength. Link smiled and continued petting his friend. Sheik smiled behind her bangs at the farm boy and his horse. Link smiled at her while securing Epona's saddle.

"So did you give yourself a tour of the village?" Link asked.

"I just familiarized myself." Sheik said, shrugging.

"Did you go by the ranch?"

"Umm no, I assumed you were working."

"Well then, how about I show you the ranch?"

"Didn't you just come from there?"

Link smiled slightly, his eyebrows arched.

"Well yea, but I didn't put up the goats yet. And Fado is bound to come and ask for help sooner or later." Link paused to adjust Epona's bridle. "So how about it? You can ride Epona there if you want to."

Sheik sighed, unsure if he'll let her say no.

"I guess I could check out the ranch then." She said, taking a step forward. "But I'm not sure Epona will like me riding her if she doesn't take well to strangers."

Link shrugged as he grabbed the reigns.

"Have it your way."

Link moved aside for Sheik and led Epona through the woods, walking beside Sheik. Sheik glanced around, noticing something was missing.

"Where's Navi?" She asked.

"Oh, at home. She usually stays there when I help with the goats." Link explained.

"Why's that?"

"Well, one time a goat tried to eat her and she's been skittish about them ever since."

Sheik laughed slightly at the story, understanding why Navi would be scared of them after that.

She kept the silver harp close to her as she watched Link and Epona chase the goats running around the pasture. She stood leaning on the closed gate, the skirt of her dress blew slightly in the wind along with her golden hair. Link was down to the last few goats and hoped to herd them quickly. Epona's coat shone in the light as she ran, her mane and tail blowing in the wind as she chased the goat into the barn. A man wearing a white muscle shirt and an apron skirt thing stood by the barn, watching last goat run in and quickly locked it up. Link slowed Epona to a trot and commanded her toward the girl waiting by the gate.

"Like the show?" Link joked, petting Epona.

"HEEEYY!" A voice called followed by the man by the barn running to them. "I didn't notice the lady here! I'm Fado, the head rancher of this place!"

"Nice observation skills..." Link said sarcastically. "This is Sheik. She'll be staying here for a while."

"Oh right, Uli came by and said something bout ya. Nice to meet ya." Fado said, turning to Link. "So I assume ya don't wanna jump fences?"

"No, Epona's probably tired, so I'm just ganna tie her up when we get home so she can rest."

"Alright." Fado said, unlocking the gate and letting them pass. Link got off Epona as Fado locked the gate behind him and looked over at Sheik.

"Are you sure you don't want a ride?" Link asked again, petting Epona.

"Didn't you just say that she was tired?" Sheik asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

"I guess." Link said, looking over at her. He froze for a few moments, seeing her eyes for the first time. Sheik looked at him, confused.

"Well Navi was right about your eyes. They're pretty cool." Link complemented as Sheik quickly hid herself again. He tilted his head slightly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I should probably return to Uli's house now though." Sheik said before nearly running ahead, leaving Link and Epona behind. Link watched her leave, unsure why she was in a hurry.

* * *

**_Alright, Finally I am getting somewhat past the begining of this! And I realized something...I've been tramatising Navi. She's been flung off a horse and ended up in the middle of nowhere, and now she's been almost eaten by a goat. I should be nicer to her for once..._**

**_Anyway, Enjoy and feel free to review._**


	7. Chapter 7: Melody

Soft music notes floated through the Ordon Woods on the wind's breath. Chords joined together in perfect harmony, adding beauty to the trees. The dark feeling of the typical woods was lifted, calming the feel from the horror paranoia. Bandaged fingers danced along the strings of the instrument, strumming each note. The fingers belonged to a girl harpist; her right hand was in the same type of bandages as on her fingers. She wore a midnight blue casual dress, it covered her legs and still spread on the sand slightly, a deep purple cloth was tied around her waist with a ribbon, a style much used in the village of Ordon. Her blonde hair laid on her back and slightly over her shoulders, her bangs framed her face. She stopped on the last low note of the song, silence surrounded without the music. She opened her blood red eyes, looking ahead at the spring of water in front of her. She heard the familiar clop of a horse's hooves.

"Aww why'd ya stop?" A girl with short brown hair asked, looking at her with green eyes and holding the reigns of a brown horse's bridle. "I just got here and you stop."

"Sorry Ilia." The harpist apologized, standing up. "Washing Epona again?"

"Yea, she gets really dirty from herding goats and it's not like Link ever has time to do it." Ilia said, petting Epona's dusty hide.

The girl harpist smiled and walked into the shallow water, placing her hand on Epona's muzzle where the white streak faded into her pinkish nose. Epona snorted slightly and her ears twitched. Ilia smiled as she dipped a sponge in the water.

"Epona's warmed up to you quite well, Sheik." The farm girl said, placing the sponge on Epona's side. Sheik smiled slightly behind her bangs.

"It's been close to three weeks, she should know me a litttle bit by now. There's not much to know at this time." Sheik said, petting Epona's muzzle.

"Right..." Ilia paused as she cleaned the dust off Epona, a clean wet spot stuck out from the dusty fur background. "..So...have you remembered anything?"

Sheik remained silent as she pet the horse while Ilia cleaned the beautiful creature's dirtied hide. Ilia sighed, breaking the small amount of silence.

"Well, you know you can tell me if you do, even if it's a small fragment, it still counts." She turned and shot a reassuring smile at Sheik. "But it's nice having you here in Ordon, we don't really want you to leave. We just want to help."

Ilia always felt sorry for Sheik since day one when she was brought to the village by Link. She looked like she had been in a fight and lost, the reasons still unknown. And then she learned about the rumors from her dad, the mayor, about the Shadow Folk, a race that everyone believes Sheik belongs to that had long since faded out of history. And then she discovered that the Sheikah girl had no memory of anything and had slight paranoia. Now, three weeks later, she is known by the small village quite well (the parts they know about anyway since no one knows her past) and she has quickly adapted to the life. But still she possesses no memory of her past, she doesn't know if she has a family or friends or anything. The only thing she has to hold onto is her believed race and her believed name, which both could very well be fake. The only real thing she could hold onto was her harp.

Ilia sighed, dipping the sponge back into the water.

"Oh, what was that song you were playing?" Ilia asked, looking back at the Sheikah girl who just shrugged.

"I don't really know the title or anything; it's just something that comes to me."

"Maybe it's an old song you remember from something?" Ilia said.

"Or it could very well be a random song that was just thought up." Sheik said, shrugging again. "I don't really know."

Without another word, she walked through the exit, her harp casually in her arms. Ilia watched her leave, now somewhat used to the odd behavior of the Sheikah. She still couldn't help feeling sorry for her. She wished there was a chance that the newest member of the village would be able to have her memories back, and not be forced to wander through the world not knowing if there were people worrying for her, looking for her, or even anybody who knew she was alive. The farm girl brushed through her light brown hair with her free hand, dipping her other hand with the sponge into the cooling water.

Sheik walked over good-sized stones tree roots, her harp in her arm by her side. She watched the dirt pass behind her as she walked instead of looking ahead. She didn't understand why she always felt so distant to the villagers, why she felt like she had a secret that cannot be told when it was impossible to have a secret when you simply can't remember life before waking up in the village. She heard the familiar sound of a fairy's wings flying and she glanced beside her where Link's tree house stood.

"Hey!" The white ball of light called, flying from the window down to her. "Where are you going?"

Sheik sighed, feeling that uncomfortable feeling she always got when someone asked her a simple question like that.

"Don't know yet, Navi." She replied in her somewhat emotionless tone.

"Are you going to play your harp again?" The fairy asked, obviously interested in what she was planning on doing.

Sheik shrugged in reply.

"Well I really liked the song you were just playing in the forest." Navi complemented. "You play it a lot and it gets longer every time! Does it have a title yet?"

"...No."

"Oh." Navi said, somewhat disappointed. "Well keep it up! I really like hearing it, and I think Link enjoys it too when he hears it!"

Navi quickly flew back into the house, letting Sheik at peace. She sighed before walking ahead through the entrance to the actual village of Ordon. The kids of the village where playing in the shallow water stream near Uli's house, splashing the water at each other and attempting to shoot water through their hands by pressing their palms together in the water. She smiled slightly at the kids before walking across the bridge over the shallow stream of water. Colin quietly rushed behind her when he saw her and gently tugged on the skirt of her dress. Sheik stopped and looked down at him.

"Umm...Hey Sheik...do you know where Link is?" Colin asked, looking up at her with innocent eyes.

Sheik glanced around, looking for where he might be. She knew that he wasn't in either of the forests since the gate was locked and if he wasn't around the village then he was at the farm. After a short amount of time, she spotted him on the natural pillar behind the store laying on his back with his arms under his head.

"Looks like he's sleeping." Sheik said, motioning Colin to where Link was.

"Oh...ok thank you." Colin said before running back to the others.

Sheik smiled again as he returned to his friends, finding it somewhat cute how Colin always looked up to Link like a big brother and how the other kids always ask for sword lessons. She continued across the bridge, passing Mayor Bo's house and toward the farm. She noticed the gate was locked and Fado was not around, even though the goats were roaming the feild. She lifted herself over the fence and into the pasture where she was greeted with a handful of "Ba-a-a-a's" from the goats. She walked around the goats to the other side of the pasture before sitting against the fence beside the barn. The goats continued their grazing and ignored her presence as she leaned her head against the wooden rail, relived to be alone again. She glanced down at her harp and placed it on her lap, thinking over the familiar song again.

The breeze mixed with the sunlight kept him in comfort, even though he had just woken up from his nap. He opened his cerulean blue eyes, staring up at the slightly cloudy sky. The breeze caused his brownish bangs to dance across his nose; he swatted his hair away and scratched his nose with a gloved hand, the finger cut at the middle of the fingers. He sat up, brushing his hand through his brownish hair and blonde streaks before placing his green hat on his head. He stood up and stretched before glancing down at two black eyes staring back at him.

"Hello, Link." He said, petting the calico cat. He wondered how he had managed to get there, but he knew that cats have a strange way of getting places without being noticed. He picked Link the cat up and jumped onto his owner's roof and jumped onto the ground. He placed Link back on the ground and smiled at the feline that he had a connection with. He turned around to face the soaking wet kids looking up at him in interest.

"Link!" Talo cheered. "Since you're up, can you give us some sword lessons?"

"They've been so annoying with it, so can you so they'll be quiet?" Beth asked, looking even more interested than Talo.

Link smiled down at the kids as the cat ran into the kitty door to her owner's house. He felt proud to be such an idol to the kids, to be a big brother even when he had no actual family.

"Sorry guys, but I should probably check on the goats. Fado won't be back until near sunset." Link said, checking the sun's position.

The kids started "awwww"ing as Colin stepped forward to Link, fidgeting with his hands as he tried to find words.

"Ummm...If you're going to the farm, you should know that Sheik just went there a few minutes ago...she's probably still there." Colin informed before running with the other kids to play.

Link looked at the entrance to the farm and smiled before quickly walking towards Ordon's most known trait. The sound of a harp playing got stronger as he approached, a big sign that she was there. He ducked behind the closed gate, looking through the space between the wooden rails for her.

_Goats...Goats...Goats...Hey look! More goats! _Link thought as he tried looking through the small group of goats. He stood back up, looking over the animals and spotting a girl with a harp on the other side of the pasture. Quickly, he swung himself over the gate, landing softly and silently. He crept across the pasture as quietly as he could. Soon enough, he was beside her.

Her eyes were closed as she focused on the strings, playing every note and chord perfectly. He slowly sat down beside her and softly leaned against the fence, not wanting her to stop her song. He listened as she continued the familiar song, each sound sounding as soft and beautiful as the calm farm itself. The goats grazed peacefully to the calming sound as she played. Link smiled as he watched her bandaged fingers dance across the strings while she was deep in her song. After a few moments, she stopped, letting the song disappear into the silence. Her fingers were frozen on the last strings she played, her eyes still closed. She took a long pause before playing the song from the begining, only to stop at that very point shortly, allowing Link to know that she had been working on it by playing the same notes over and over, trying to find the next chord.

She sighed, setting the harp back on her lap and leaning her head against the wooden rail, eyes toward the sky. Link smirked slightly, he could tell she had been working quite hard on it for the past few minutes, according to Colin she had just came to the farm a few minutes ago, not counting the small amount of time Link had been listening.

"It's longer than I remember." Link said, breaking the silence.

When he spoke the first word and broke the silence, Sheik slightly jumped, staying still as he finished the sentence. By the time he said the last word, she swung her elbow at him, unaware of who it was and fearing for the worst. Link quickly grabbed her arm, stopping it only seconds before it would've struck his ribcage. His cerulean eyes stared at her as her own scarlet eyes spotted him. She quickly withdrew her arm, holding it close to her chest as if it would keep her from almost nailing him again.

"...S-Sorry." She apologized, looking down at the harp on her lap, her blonde bangs hiding her eyes. "You startled me."

"It's fine!" Link said, showing a reassuring smile. "I guess that's what I get for sneaking up on you."

Link got silence, something he was somewhat used to around her. He smiled and leaned again the wooden fence again, brushing back a loose strand of his hair into his bangs.

"You've made the song longer since I last heard. The other day it was only a few seconds long." Link tried again.

"It's still not very long." Sheik said, tracing her bandaged fingers on the strings.

"Well you do play that song a lot...What do you call it?"

"I don't have a title for it." Sheik said, shrugging.

"Why not?" Link asked, tilting his head slightly. "It's really pretty; your hard work deserves to have a name."

"I don't know what its name would be."

Link thought for a moment, thinking over the parts of the song he memorized. A cloud swallowed the sun, dimming the light and sending them in a cool atmosphere.

"Do you mind playing it one more time?" Link asked, looking back at her.

"Didn't you hear it when you got here?"

"Well not really. As soon as I got here you quit." Link fibbed, hoping it would be a good enough excuse to hear the song again. Sheik sighed and raised the harp again, placing her bandaged fingers on the strings. Link smiled as she began.

Each sound seemed to be a chord; more than one string was being played at once. The first few chords sounded higher in pitch, followed by a few low chords and a pause. The first few chords played again, once again followed by the same low chords and pause. The next part seemed to elevate higher in pitch and then slowly elevated down and was followed by a pause. The elevation was replayed a second time, followed by a pause. She strummed the last few chords she had, a lower chord followed by a high pitched chord that hung in the air.

She slowly dropped the harp back onto her lap and remained silent as Link thought. He wanted to know the rest, leaving the song at that was like ending a book on a cliffhanger, he wanted more. He thought over the song again, his mind in awe at its mysterious beauty, peace, and harmony.

"It's really relaxing...pretty...and not to mention kind of mysterious." Link complemented, still thinking over the song. "Is this a song you knew or is it a new project?"

"I don't know, the song just kind of came to me."

"Came to you how?" Link asked, curious.

Sheik thought for a while, remembering the night on the first week she was in the village when she was having trouble sleeping. She had no motivation to sleep that night; her blood eyes wouldn't stay shut. She lay on her side on Uli's couch, she refused to occupy any bed and cause discomfort to the family. She closed her eyes, loosing track of how many times she had tried that method to try to sleep. A soft melody played in her thoughts, allowing her to drift into wanted sleep. When she awoke, she only recalled the first few notes. A few days later she had tried playing it on her harp, surprised that she found it so natural and easy to play, but was stopped a few seconds after she started, unable to recall the rest of the song. It seemed that every few days she would play the next part on her harp as if she had known it the whole time. The song got from only nine seconds long to now close to 17 seconds long, yet she felt like there was more she was forgetting.

"It just came to me." Sheik said again, shrugging. "It feels familiar."

Link smiled at his friend.

"At least you're feeling some sense of familiarity."

Sheik smiled slightly as Link continued to think over the song one more time.

"You know," He began, "the song kind of reminds me of you in some way."

Sheik looked over at him, slightly confused on what he meant. Link continued.

"It's kind of pretty, not to mention it has a mysterious feel to it."

"Oh..." Sheik said, thinking over it. "Thank you."

"You know, it could be your song." Link said, continuing on.

"My song?"

"Yea. 'Sheik's Song'...or maybe 'Sheik's Melody'." Link said, thinking out loud. "Yea. 'Sheik's Melody'. I think it suits both you and your song."

"I...guess so." Sheik said, thinking over the name.

"I think it does."

Link looked at the blue sky, checking for where the sun was at the moment. The ball of fire hung near the vanishing point of Ordon Village, tinting the grayish clouds with pink. Sunset was when Fado would return to the village from the busy town of Hyrule Town with the much needed goat feed. One goat stared at him and baa'ed as if reading his mind. He smiled at the blue-grey goat, its horns joined into one gold horseshoe-like symbol. Link stood up and pet the goat, feeling the soft fur on his ungloved fingers, his palms feeling nothing.

"I think I'll herd up the goats before Fado gets home." Link said before getting nudged by another goat from behind.

Sheik simply nodded in reply as she also stood up, sitting on the top of the wooden fence. She held up her harp again, this time playing Epona's favorite song. As soon as the song ended, the clops of her hooves were heard in the distance, followed by a familiar neigh. The clopping briefly stopped as she jumped over the closed gate and began again once she landed. The goats all scattered away from the horse's trail towards Link, she stopped right in front of him and whinnied again. Link smoothed his hand over her fur as he placed his foot on the stirrup and jumped on before quickly swinging his other leg to the other side of the saddle, securing his foot in the other stirrup and grabbing the reigns.

"Alright Epona." Link said, kicking Epona to command her forward. "Get's go."

* * *

_**Sorry for another stalling chapter, I just really wanted to do something like this before I get into the actual story. Anyway, in case ya'll don't know what song I was pitifully trying to discribe, its **_**Sheik's Theme**_** from the Ocarina of Time game. I took the sheet music I have for piano and tried to discribe it, which was hard because I can barely read music. T^T**_

_**Well, feel free to review.**_


	8. Chapter 8: Ambush

All of the goats scattered once Epona got too close, some automatically running into the barn while others run the completely different direction. Link steered Epona to the left and right side of the goats, trying to steer as many as he could at once into the barn. The numbers of the goats in the pasture got smaller and smaller until one goat remained, trying to avoid the barn as much as possible. After a few seconds of chasing the single goat around the pasture, the animal gave up and ran inside the shelter. Link quickly rode to the barn's door and shut the goats in for the night, being sure to lock it. He sighed with relief once he locked the wooden doors, smoothing his hand over the surface of the door. Behind the farm boy, Sheik jumped off the fence and walked beside Epona, receiving a nudge from the horse. She smiled slightly and pet the white streak on Epona's muzzle, feeling the fur only on her left palm, the bandages on her right hand and fingers didn't allow her to feel the touch.

Link leaned his arms on the barn and glanced over his shoulder at his two friends. He smiled to himself, remembering when Epona was still timid around Sheik and somewhat vice-versa. He remembered the first time Epona showed affection to her during her second week in the village. He was attempting to talk her into riding Epona again, a request that was always rejected. Epona stood somewhat behind her as he tried to convince the girl to ride. He remembered seeing Epona cautiously step closer and closer toward her and stopped when her head was about a foot away. She gently nudged at Sheik, as if she were completely curious about this new girl. The gentle nudge was not enough to cause Sheik's balance to fail, but it succeeded in slightly startling her. Sheik quickly glanced behind her, startling the horse as well. They both stared at each other and although he didn't know if she was aware of Epona's newfound trust, he believed soon she would be herself around the caring horse.

_I swear, I am going to get her on that horse one of these days._ Link thought to himself.

"LINK!" A young voice yelled, followed by Colin running to his role-model and houseguest. He had fear in his eyes as he looked up at Link, like he had just witnessed death. Link quickly kneeled down, eye-level to the young scared blonde.

"What's wrong?" He asked seriously with a courageous face.

The young boy took in a breath and spoke without even fidgeting with his hands like he does, or even pausing.

"Fado's back Link!"

Both of the teens stared at him, eyebrow arched. Colin quickly spoke again.

"He's back! And he's hurt and bleeding!"

Link quickly responded with a somewhat surprised face before quickly hiding his own fears behind a fake courageous face.

"I'll go help. Stay here with Sheik and Epona." He said in a big brotherly tone, his blue eyes looking into the kid's own blue eyes. He stood up and looked back at Sheik, her eyes somewhat filled with surprise, but seemed to question why she couldn't help.

"Please stay here with Colin. Something must've happened to him on the way back, I'm going to figure out what." He explained, as if reading her mind. He quickly darted away towards the village, quickly jumping the short wooden fence and running into the distance. He quickly sprinted through the village, running to where his neighbors where crowded together. Uli glanced at him as he approached.

"Oh, Link! Colin found you, did he?" She asked as Link nodded. "As you may have heard...Fado returned in bad shape just moments ago..."

Link nodded again before she moved out of his way and allowed vision of the rancher. His arm showed a large gash, blood oozed from his body in a crimson color. The other wounds were slight cuts that showed no seriousness to them whatsoever. Link sighed, relieved that he wasn't in a too major situation. Fado looked up at him from where he was, hands and knees on the ground as if he had caught himself while falling, and slowly stood up, holding his arm where the gash was located. The other villagers prepared themselves to catch him incase he would fall as he walked forward.

"Fado, what happened?" Link asked as Fado continued stepping forward.

"An ambush...these monsters stopped my wagon an' attacked me." He explained, standing still to answer. "They're heading to here; they looked as if they were searching for somethin'."

The villagers' eyes all showed shock and feared for what would become of them. A larger woman took in shaky breaths, thinking over the situation.

"Wh-What do we do?" She cried, glancing around for some answer. "W-With Rusl gone, we have no protection!"

"Sera, please calm down, we'll be alright." Uli said, comforting the panicking woman.

Link looked at his fearful neighbors with his courageous face.

"I'll protect the village." He volunteered. "Rusl taught me how to use a sword for a long time, I can protect you guys."

Mayor Bo stared at the farm boy in thought as Ilia shot Link a worried expression. It was true that Rusl was the best swordsman in the village, and he had taught Link the way of the sword since he was young. He had experienced the boy's skills and agreed that they were an equal match to his teacher's.

"Link, please, you'll get hurt!" Ilia begged, "I say we run, we can't lose anyone!"

"Ilia, you are aware of his fighting skills." Mayor Bo said to his protesting daughter. "Ilia, gather the children and hide them in the house. Link will not face this challenge alone."

Hesitant, the farm girl looked over at Link with a slight caring glare before running off to where the kids were located. Link smirked as she left, understanding her glare language. _You better not die, got it?_ Is what he believed her look was meant to say. He looked back at the adult villagers, each one a close friend to him.

"Yea!" One of the male villagers yelled, fist in the air. "The Mayor is right, Link will not face this alone! I may not be a skilled swordsman, but I'm going to help as much as I can!"

The woman standing beside him looked at her mate, somewhat shocked.

"Jaggle..." She said silently.

"I shall help as well." Mayor Bo said, nodding his head.

Link smiled at his supportive friends, each with a different personality but they all shared the same kindness, friends, and home. Mayor Bo quickly called the attention to himself.

"Alright, the others should hide with the kids and Ilia back at my house, I have a back room where you can all hide." He announced as the rest of the frightened villagers started to walk towards his house. A scream was heard in the air, quickly getting louder. The villagers all froze as the scream continued increasing in volume. A man with an afro ran into the village, a bird's nest built on his head and a bird with a similar hairdo on his shoulder. He stopped in front of the villagers, panting. Link stepped forward.

"Coro?"

The man called Coro quickly looked up at Link and smiled in joy.

"The Ordonian!" He cheered at the customer he never remembered the name of, still slightly panting.

"Coro, what happened?" Link asked, ignoring his creative nickname Coro gave him.

"Monsters everywhere, they're coming this way! Wh-What do we do?"

Mayor Bo sighed at the news.

"You can have shelter at my house, just join everyone else."

Coro quickly ran along with the other villagers, leaving Mayor Bo, Jaggle, and Link behind.

"Alright, gather the weapons you have, Link. We'll do the same. Quickly! We don't have much time!"

Link nodded and quickly ran to gather his sword and shield, along with his fairy friend.

Ilia ran to the wooden gate, finding Colin, Sheik, and Epona. Sheik glanced over at her, sitting on her knees in front of Colin trying to comfort him.

"You guys need to come with me! Hurry!" Ilia yelled, followed by Colin quickly running over as told. Sheik stood up and stared at the farm girl, confused to what was going on. Ilia showed much fear in her emerald eyes as she helped Colin over the fence.

Link jumped onto the ground from the door of his tree house, followed by his fairy companion. He glanced around, still no monsters in sight. He sighed in relief before running into the village again, joining Mayor Bo armed with one of Rusl's blades and Jaggle armed with a gardening hoe. Both of the village protectors looked over at him as he entered with brave faces on.

"Link, we think it is best if you remain closer to the village while we go ahead and try to lessen the monster count." Mayor Bo explained. "You are the better swordsman; therefore you can be trusted with protecting the villagers."

Link nodded, understanding the logic. The two neighbors nodded back before walking ahead to the exit of the village, ready to defend. As Link watched them depart, he heard the familiar sounds of hooves against the ground. He looked over his shoulder to the source of the sound, spotting Sheik holding onto the reigns and leading Epona to him while Ilia and Colin rushed to the shelter. Link shot a reassuring smile at her as she handed him the reigns to his horse.

"Thanks...you should probably go into shelter with the rest." Link said, showing her the most heroic smile he could possibly come up with. Sheik shot her own determined look in her blood eyes, looking into his beast-like cerulean eyes.

"I want to help." She said, getting a surprised look from Link. "It's the least I can do to repay you all for letting me stay here."

"You don't have to repay us! If you do, then find another way!"

"I feel like I can be of some help." She continued.

"Please, we can handle this!" Navi joined in, "Just please go into shelter!"

Sheik sighed, knowing ahead of time that convincing them to allow her aid wouldn't be easy. She knew that when she was found, she possessed multiple weapons, both close-range and long, so she must've been a skilled fighter. Her instincts remind her of her unknown skill every time, and she trusted them to be good. Link and Navi continued to try and convince her to go where it was safe, each time failing. She made sure to stand her ground, no matter what they said. She couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched as they continued to attempting convincing her.

She hid her eyes under her bangs and glanced through where her hair allowed her to see beside her. She quickly pushed Link backwards, causing him to slightly loose his balance. He took a step back to catch himself as she also took a step back seconds before an item flew past them and struck the ground next to where they were once standing. Link quickly glanced down at the arrow that was meant to kill and looked to its archer.

A small creature glared at him with beady red eyes, a mask hiding his mouth and a hat sprouting horns hid above his evil eyes. He wore a battle-ready uniform, chain mail underneath and a leather vest. His red eyes were framed by green skin, and his arms seemed longer than they should be, reaching the ground while he stood. The monster called in a distorted voice and language unrecognizable by the Ordonian and Sheikah. Navi gasped as the call ended, turning to Link.

"Link, it's a bulbin!" She warned, catching both his and Sheik's attention. "Look out!"

Link quickly faced the entrance as more bulbins ran in, mostly armed with wooden clubs while few carried bows in their hands and quivers on their backs. Link quickly drew his sword and shield, stepping in front of Sheik.

"Run to shelter, Sheik!" He yelled, almost demanded.

A bulbin armed with a club quickly ran forward, followed by a few more. Link quickly swung his sword, slicing the first bulbin in half and moving onto the next one as it decomposed into ashes within seconds. He fought quickly, preventing any bulblin to pass him to allow Sheik some time to go into shelter. He swung his blade again before holding his shield up to protect him from an arrow, focusing on the arrow's deflection against his metal shield so that he could quickly change from defense to offense. He heard the strange call of the bulbins again, this time behind him. He glanced over his shoulder, watching the monster run toward Sheik who had not taken the opportunity to run.

_Damn it! _He yelled in his head, watching as the monster got dangerously close to its victim. He knew he wouldn't be able to reach an attack in time to save her.

She faced the bulbin, watching it get closer and closer. As it finally got within distance to attack with its club, Sheik quickly lifted up the skirt of her dress, revealing a bandage-like wrap right above her knee. She quickly drew a kunai from the bandages wrapped around her leg and sliced it through it's neck. She drew the blade out of its neck quickly, allowing it to decompose into ashes before running to another bulbin this time targeting Link while he was distracted and slaughtering it. Quickly snapping out of it, he swung his sword as the bulbins in front of him, killing four of the monsters and stepped backwards. Link and Sheik stood back-to-back, weapons ready to strike at the bulbins that approached them.

"Were you expecting an ambush?" Link asked over his shoulder, keeping his eyes on the monsters. "How long has that been on you?"

"A while." Sheik replied in her emotionless tone. "I suppose it's just habit."

Link looked at her over his shoulder, she looked back at him. Her eyes showed that she was a fighter, but still had it's beauty it held minutes ago. They both unlocked eyes and looked ahead, watching as the ambush closed in.

"Are you going to suggest I go into shelter?" Sheik asked.

"...No...Now I'll just leave it at 'Good luck'." Link replied, securing his sword. He heard Epona stomp on the bulbins that attempted to attack her, the cries of the monsters and the combusting into ashes let him know that he didn't need to worry about Epona.

"Well then," Sheik started, securing her middle finger into the ring on the pommel of the kunai. "good luck to you as well."

The Ordonian swordsman and the Sheikah girl stood back-to-back, their weapons ready to strike at the army of bulbins. The bulbins each wore an evil glare with their beady red eyes, holding either a club or bow. Epona lifted up her front hooves and stomped on those who got too close, killing some instantly. The horse's once calm and trusting eyes turned to a glare as the bulbins attacked. The swordsman's own cerulean eyes were changed as he was ready to strike. His eyes were now beast-like, unlike the caring courageous eyes he wore before. The Sheikah girl glared at the bulbin's ruby eyes with her own blood eyes, ready to strike at the monsters. Quickly, Link and Sheik simultaneously lunged forward, slicing the monsters in front of them, causing them to quickly decompose into ashes with a combustion-like fashion. The blue tinted fairy followed Link close behind, avoiding the sword and distracting some of the monsters.

Multiple bulbins perished to the blades, their green-tinted red blood decorated the sword and kunai as they fought. Sheik fought quickly, allowing her instincts to guide her. She moved with the kunai in her hand, moving from one monster to the next in a graceful motion. The midnight blue skirt of her dress along with her blonde hair flowed behind her as she fought. Her Sheikah instincts and unknown skills allowed her to move quickly and gracefully along with being alert to surprise attacks. Link glanced back at her and Epona every chance he got between slicing bulbins. He had heard of multiple myths about Sheikah members from Mayor Bo, most of the "facts" where about their fighting skill. Almost every time he glanced back, making sure of her and Epona's safety, she was slicing through another bulbin.

_How long has she been hidden from Hyrule's eyes? _He wondered, spilling the greenish blood of another trespasser.

The numbers of bulbins began to lessen, but they didn't stop putting up the best offence they could. Their defense was their downfall, Link stabbed a bulbin monster through where a Hylian's heart would be, killing it instantly. He yanked his blade out quickly to slash through another monster that hoped to succeed in attacking. He glanced around, noticing that lack of club-wielding bulbins. As the clubs lessened, the bow and arrows seemed to gain more members. He glanced back at his partner as she pulled her kunai out of another bulbin's neck. She glanced back at him, also noticing the sudden gain in bow and arrow bulbins. He jumped backwards as another bulbin attempted to club him, missing him as he dodged it. Link looked over his shoulder where Sheik was, her back pressed up to his. He picked up a bow and arrow dropped by one of their blades' victims.

"I need you to cover me." Link said, pulling back on the string of the bow and releasing an arrow at one of the bulbins on the roof.

Sheik nodded before launching forward, slicing another bulbin. Every time she saw a bulbin running at Link, she attacked, giving him a chance to shoot an arrow at another bulbin. She saw two bulbins armed with clubs holding a conversation as the other bulbins just ignored them and fought around them. She heard the distorted language of the bulbins as they "spoke", unable to understand what they were planning. Suddenly, she felt the pain in her back as a wooden club connected to her spine.

* * *

**_And now here's the storyline chapters! I've stalled too much...Oh well._**

**_Feel free to review, and I hope you enjoy!_**

**_-MidnightTwi_**


	9. Chapter 9: Unwanted Memory Fragments

_DAMN IT! _She thought as she came in contact with the ground.

"Sheik!" Link yelled, dropping the bow and arrow and drawing his sword.

Quickly regaining her senses, she sat up, her blooded kunai still in her hand. She opened her eyes to a bulbin's own beady blood eyes staring into hers. It jumped when she opened her eyes, seeing the color of her iris. It quickly cried out in a distorted call, unable to finish the call as Link interrupted it by stabbing his sword through its skull. The bulbin's body fell over limp and spontaneously combusted into ashes, revealing Link behind it. He quicky grabbed her hand and nearly threw her to her feet before slashing through another bulbin that was approaching.

"Are you alright?" Link asked, looking back at her.

She nodded in reply and secured the kunai in her hand. She trembled as she remembered the blood gaze of the bulbin. She remembered looking up at a bulbin on a boar-like creature as it fought her. She remembered the blood stares of the monsters that invaded her and others like her in a village. The blood glare mimicked evil, as if you could see their dark thoughts. That glare was too familiar to her. She quickly killed another bulbin, spilling it's greenish blood that also seemed eerily familiar. Images of people with the same eyes as hers came into her mind, each one fighting one of these monsters. Multiple people she now recognized laid dead on the battlefield, the bulbins running over them in search of something. She remembered dodging the arrows of those who attacked her, some were tied together as a net. She busted out of every attempt of capture, not willing to surrender.

The battle she fought now seemed far too familiar. It was semi-clear to her now. She didn't know why, but she knew what they were here for.

_These things are looking for me. _She thought, slaugtering another bulbin.

She glanced at Mayor Bo's house where, according to Ilia, the whole village was hiding. She killed another bulbin attacker, glancing at Link who was also spilling the blood of an attacker. She remembered the images of a village coated in blood; she attempted to fight for it. She quickly moved on to another bulbin who wasn't even attempting an attack, killing it quickly. She knew the consequences now, and she didn't exactly like it. She noticed some bulbins retreating from the battle, running back into the woods. She glanced at Link as he smirked at her, as if showing a victory. She showed a smirk back at him, hiding her fear behind her face. She heard the cries of the bulbins as they ran and heard the sound of bodies exploding into ashes.

"They're retreating!" Jaggle exclaimed as he ran into the village with a blood coated gardening hoe, followed by Mayor Bo. They slaughtered the bulbins they passed, as if showing a warning to their group.

The number of retreating bulbins grew, only a few courageous ones remained only to perish by either a blade or a gardening tool. They all stared at the entrance when the number of bulbins reached zero, waiting for a rebound ambush to appear. They all panted in exhaustion as they waited. Finally Mayor Bo stood up straight from his defense position and sighed, breaking the suspenseful silence.

"I believe we won this fight."

"YES!" Jaggle cheered, holding his gardening hoe towards the sky.

Link, Sheik, and Navi all sighed simultaneously, followed by a snort from Epona. Mayor Bo smiled at his protecting team.

"I suppose I can tell the village that the monsters are gone." He said, scratching his chin.

"Yea, my wife's probably having a stroke." Jaggle joked.

Link nodded in reply.

"I'll stay out here in case some hidden bulbins return."

Mayor Bo nodded before walking towards his house to where his daughter and the other villagers plus a hippie were hiding, followed by Jaggle. Link turned to Sheik as they stepped on the steps of Mayor Bo's house.

"I should seriously stop underestimating you." He said, smiling.

Sheik was able to show a smirk back at him, hiding her eyes behind her bangs. Link tilted his head and frowned at her.

"Why do you always hide your eyes like that?" He asked. "They're pretty."

Sheik remained silent, still hiding behind her bangs. She still thought about the images she remembered, a small village in blood, the ambush of the bulbins attacking her, and the woman she painfully left behind. She used to wonder if there was someone looking for her, but now that she knew the answer, she felt sick. She looked at Link, revealing one eye from her hair.

"Did Fado say why the bulbins attacked him?" She asked.

"Yea, he said they were looking for something...at least that's what it seemed like." Link answered, arching an eyebrow at her.

She sighed sadly, confirming what she believed. The monsters had business with her, and they were using violence to retrieve her. She knew that this village could possibly turn out like the other village she saw. She tightened her grip around the handle of the kunai, her bandaged hand and fingers not allowing her to feel the handle's touch.

"...You're never going to let me see what's on your hand, are you?" Link asked.

Sheik glanced down at her bandaged hand and back at Link.

"It's just a scar."

"So? Why do you cover it up all the time?" He asked. "I have a pretty impressive scar on my shoulder from when Rusl nailed me while sparring. You can see it whenever, I'll even let you tell me who's scar is worse."

She sighed in reply. Besides always trying to convince her into riding Epona, he would always ask why she hid the scar on her hand. He already knew why her fingers were bandaged, since she's a harpist, but those two missions of his never seem to bore him. She didn't understand why he wanted to know or why he wanted her to ride Epona. Link sighed, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"I'm just trying to be a friend to you." Link said, as if he read her mind. He showed a smile at her.

She hid behind her bangs again, feeling guilty for what she had just learned. She slowly took in a breath.

"Link."

Link blinked a few times before answering.

"Yeah? What's wrong?"

"...I'm sorry."

"...Sorry for wha-"

Link's sentence was cut off from a kunai handle to the back of the head. Sheik had quickly lunged herself at him and behind him and struck him in the head with the handle of her kunai. Link looked back at her as he fell to the earth, looking into the blood eyes he rarely was allowed to see. They were fierce yet sorrowful, but yet they still held the beauty they always did, her bangs framing her eyes. The cold darkness of unconsciousness enveloped him the moment he hit the ground. Sheik threw the kunai at him, striking the earth only inches in front of his eyes.

"Link!" Navi yelled, flying around her companion's face.

Epona neighed loudly, lifting up her front hooves and slamming them back down to the ground. She stared at Sheik with confused eyes. Sheik sighed and approached the horse, holding her hand out to pet her muzzle. Epona took a few steps back, unsure if this was a betrayal. Navi quickly flew beside Epona.

"Sheik, what are you doing?" The fairy yelled as the Sheikah passed Epona's head and opened the brown bag attached to her saddle, the horse's gaze following her curiously. She pulled out her harp from where she placed it before bringing Epona from the farm after hearing the news from Ilia. Navi flew in front of her face, inches from her eyes.

"What's going on?" She yelled, knowing this time there was no way she wouldn't be noticed. Sheik sighed and quickly pushed the fairy into the bag, closing it quickly and buckling it tighly, allowing no exit and trapping Navi. She heard the muffled protests and complaints as she sighed and ran from the scene into Uli's house.

She wrapped her blonde hair in bandages at the end of her braid, her head wrapped in the same type of cloth-like bandages. She felt the scarf-like mask across her face, covering everything below the arch of her nose, her bangs hiding what her mask was unable to cover. She glanced at the mirror as she tied the bandages around her chest, flattening the surface. Her outfit was a blue color; the cloth over her chest remained white. The symbol of the Sheikah was on the front of her chest on her wardrobe, bandages wrapped around her lower arms and upper legs. She examined the work, silently thanking Uli for sewing it up perfectly. Uli even kept the weapons she found hidden in the clothes, which were now hidden in the clothes again. The only visible items were her harp strapped to her back and a knife in it's holder strapped to the arch of her back. She sighed before cracking the door open, glancing around outside. Link still lay on the ground where she left him, she saw Navi struggling to escape her bag prison. Epona looked down at her master, nudging his shoulder.

She stepped out the door, causing Epona to turn her attention to her. She stared at her with sad eyes as she approached, taking a few steps back when she too close. Sheik stared down at Link with red eyes, her change in wardrobe made her look more like a warrior, and her eyes more fierce. Link still laid in the position she had left on, he had fallen onto his stomach and chest, his arms raised to form a slight circle around his head and neck. His eyes were covered by his bangs, the bottom lid barely visable. She kneeled down to him and brushed his bangs back, showing his closed eyes. He looked as if he were sleeping, but she knew the truth, more than she wanted to know. She stood back up and sighed before looking back at Epona and then at the bag that contained Navi. She still heard the muffled cries from the fairy.

"Navi."

"Sheik! Sheik what's going on!" Navi yelled, her voice now somewhat clearer.

"Tell Link I said thanks."

"Wait what?" Navi asked, confused to what was going on outside of the bag.

Sheik walked toward the entrance, hearing the muffled protests from Navi. Epona watched as she left taking a step forward and nudging Link's shoulder again. She looked back at the Sheikah and whinnied sadly as she disappeared, sad that she was leaving and sad that she acted in a betrayal toward her master. The last whinny echoed through the forest.

* * *

**_Alright, here's the next chapter, where her memories finally begin to return to her. ...Poor Navi, I am putting her through yet another experience. She has a fear of goats, and now maybe even claustraphobia hahah just kidding. Now we know what the bulbin were really after!_**

**_Anyway, to review or not to review is up to you. I just hope you enjoyed it!_**


	10. Chapter 10: Decision Made

Feeling slowly returned to his senses, the touch of his clothes returning first. He felt the very tips of his blonde-touched brown bangs on his face, one on his eye and another on the tip of his nose. He reached up and brushed his bangs back, opening his eyes and staring at a familiar ceiling, his ceiling. He recognized the waved circle-like designs, a natural piece of abstract art painted by the wood's age rings itself, he saw the light streaming from the window. He lifted himself into a sitting position, rubbing the back of his head and messing his hair. He felt the touch of his hair on his palms, something he learned to not be used to due to his fingerless gloves he was used to wearing. He looked down at his palms, seeing the skin of his palms and arms, the sight of skin stopping barely past his elbows where his white shirt sleeves ended. His blue eyes glanced over to the shelf near his bed, where his green hat and brown fingerless gloves were put. His brown boots were set up neatly on the ground in front of the shelf.

He sighed, still tired from awaking, and let himself fall back onto his bed, his head smacking the pillow and sending a slight pain via bruise located on the back of his skull. He rolled onto his side and rubbed where the pain was found, releasing an irritated groan.

_For the love of Nayru, what did I do this time? _He asked himself, thinking over his goat herding job from the previous day. As he saw it, there was no mistake. He never fell off; a rock launched from the hooves of a goat never hit him either. He rubbed his eye, remembering the last and first time that happened and he got his first black eye. _What the hell happened?_

He played the day in fast forward, trying to recall anytime he would've accidently bruised himself in the back of the skull. He brushed his bangs back with his fingers, leaving his hand in his hair as he thought.

_I took a nap; herded, fought against an ambush and..._

He paused as he thought over the ambush, the sight of bulbins everywhere, threatening the safety of his home. He quickly sat back up again, his eyes filled with confusion and pain. The memory of a girl with strange blood eyes standing before him, hiding herself behind her bangs. The blur he saw when she quickly lounged forward, slamming the handle of her weapon into the back of his head. The sight of the once confused and beautiful red eyes now turned into a gaze of a fighter. The pain of the move she made, him falling to the ground. The fading call of his name. That event all came back to him quickly.

"Link!" A familiar voice called, the same voice he remembered last while falling into unconsciousness. He looked over at his fairy companion flying to him. "Link, you're awake!"

The fairy stopped about a foot away from his face, flying in place.

"Quick! How many fingers am I holding up?" She asked loudly. Link showed her a disapproving glare.

"Navi, I can't see your body very well in general, you're too tiny! You're a fairy, remember?"

"Correct! You ARE alright!" She said happily, flying in figure eights through the air. He sighed at her energy.

"I don't know if I am that alright though." He replied, causing Navi to freeze in the air and look at him. Before she could build up enough courage to reply, he quickly got out of his comfy bed and ran to where his boots were found, securing his foot into the left boot and beginning to put on the right. Navi flew close behind him.

"Where are you going?" She asked, getting silence as he stood up with both boots on and began to slip on his gloves. He tightened the buckles around his left glove and grabbed his green hat, placing it on his head while running out the door.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Navi asked again as he stepped off the ladder onto solid ground. Link didn't reply until he had passed the gate to the village.

"I'm going to find out just what her problem is!" He replied, nearly running toward Uli's house.

"What? ...oh...Wait, Link!" Navi yelled, flying in front of the teen. "Link, you don't know..."

"Damn right I don't, but I'm not scared to find out." Link said, cutting Navi off in mid-sentence and glaring at her with blue eyes.

"She's not here!" Navi said quickly before she could be interrupted. Link stared at her, not sure what she meant. "Link, she's gone. She's been missing since the ambush."

Link continued staring at the informative fairy in mid-shock.

"She's...missing?"

"Umm...well...not really 'missing'. But she's gone."

"What do you-"

A whinny stopped his sentence followed by a familiar voice calling his name. He looked over toward the Mayor's house, seeing the source of the whinny and voice. Epona galloped to her master, stopping in her tracks a little too close and nudging his shoulder. Link showed a small smile and pet her muzzle as Ilia ran to the horse and her farm boy. She smiled at Link.

"I'm so glad you're awake!" She said, looking at him with emerald eyes.

Epona nudged Link again, obviously happy that her master was awake and alright. Link smiled a little bigger as his horse showed her affection by nearly shoving him off of his feet and to the ground. He looked into her brown, almost black, eyes and saw that she knew what happened. He showed a sad smirk to Epona, petting her neck.

"Link, what happened? Navi said she was shoved into the bag before you blacked out, and Epona can't tell me, so what happened?" Ilia asked.

"Umm...survivors from the ambush I guess, I didn't really see them." He lied, looking at the ground as he did.

"Ilia!" An older male voice called, the teens turned toward the voice. "Oh, Link! You're awake, good to see!" Mayor Bo said, smiling at him.

_Seriously, what's with this smiling when they see me, a handle to the head isn't the worst I've been through. _Link thought as he waved at Mayor Bo kindly.

"Anyway, Ilia, can I see you for a moment?"

Ilia nodded at her father before turning back to Link and looking at him with her green eyes.

"Take it easy, alright." She said in an almost demanding tone before running toward her father.

Link sighed as he turned to Uli's house once again, stopping his show of affection to Epona and walking toward the door. He inhaled and knocked on the door, shortly after the door opened to a small blonde boy with blue eyes.

"You're awake!" Colin exclaimed, his eyes showed surprise. Link could see Uli sitting on the couch behind him, she rose from her seat, her expression mimicking her son's.

"Link, please, come in!" She said in a motherly-like calm tone.

Link stepped inside and noticed the decoration on the table. A midnight blue dress lay on the wooden surface, the skirt draping down off the corner of the table's platform. The purple cloth that wrapped around the waist was laid under it, too short to drape off the end of the table. He saw his reflection in the blade set on top of the dress over the chest area, the handle wrapped with bandages. He picked up the kunai, looking into its reflection and seeing his own cerulean eyes, filled with confusion. The fact that the dress and kunai was laid here showed a clue to what happened to the Sheikah girl that once stayed here. Uli looked at him with caring eyes.

"I should tell you...she seems to have run away."

Link nodded once and set the kunai weapon back over the dress, decorating the scene of the Sheikah girl's decision.

* * *

**_Sorry for the wait, I fell victim to Error Type 2. But it seems to be fixed (here at least) now, for how long I don't know. This was my first encounter with Error Type 2._**

**_Well it's kind of a short chapter, but I'm just trying to get past the complicated stuff so I can get to the fun stuff._**

**_-MidnightTwi_**


	11. Chapter 11: The Journey Begins

The sun hung high in the sky, blinding those who dared look directly at it too long. Link set two bottles in one of the pouches attacked to Epona's saddle; one was filled with solid red liquid while the other remained empty. His sword rested in it's sheath, his metal shield attacked close to it on his back. The shield bared the symbol of three triangles, forming into one triangle while leaving a triangle-like space between them. He knew the symbol as Hyrule's crest; the same symbol was shown in Hyrule Town and the castle. The crest was a golden-yellow color, as if it showed its importance. His sheath showed the same golden crest near the bottom, the blade inside a gift from Rusl. He glanced over at Navi, the fairy sat on his shoulder, looking back at him. He nodded and lifted himself onto the seat of the saddle, holding the reigns as he got ready to go.

"Link..." A soft voice said. Link looked at the entrance of the village, seeing Uli standing. He was planning on leaving off from his house, skipping the goodbye from the village to avoid both lost time and worried people hoping to convince him to stay. Uli took a few steps forward, stopping half way. "...While you're looking for her, can you keep an eye out for my husband?"

Link smiled at her, glad she didn't come to drag him off his horse. She had been worried when the letters from Rusl stopped nearly a week ago. He nodded, remembering his promise to Colin. Uli smiled at him before turning her expression into a worried face and folding her hands in a praying-like pose over her heart.

"Be careful, then."

Link nodded before commanding Epona to walk toward the woods, knowing that past the two woodland areas, Hyrule field would stretch out in front of him. His back was completely turned to the village when another voice called his name, this time not so calm. He stopped Epona and looked over his shoulder, spotting a half mad half worried Ilia.

"You can't just get up and get on a horse and think you're going to find anyone! It's all of Hyrule, it's much bigger than from the village to Faron Woods!" She began, glaring at him with green eyes. "And what if something happens to you or Epona? How will you get any help if that happens?"

Navi quickly flew off of Link's shoulder and into plain sight.

"Listen, as his guardian fairy, I'll make sure he doesn't do anything too stupid. And if he or Epona does get hurt, I'll fly as fast as I can to the closest form of civilization for any form of help."

"And that worked when we found Link unconscious yesterday and you in Epona's saddle!" Ilia argued.

Navi flew in sight for a moment before slowly sinking back onto her partner's shoulder, unsure how to respond to that fact. Link sighed as he felt the fairy sit on his shoulder. Uli walked to Ilia's side.

"Ilia, you know they are capable. Sheik is a friend of the village, and she's out in Hyrule with no memory, small fragments are most likely all that she has as a memory. And with those monsters roaming around, it's not easy to defeat them with only one person." Uli tried to explain.

"That's what I'm saying; it's not easy to defeat them all with just one person!" Ilia countered, looking up at Link.

Epona turned her head, looking at Ilia, and whinnied. Ilia looked back at the horse she adored and sighed.

"You're for it, too?" She asked the horse before looking back at Link. "...You better come back, all of you."

Link nodded as Navi flew back into sight, flying up and down as if motioning nodding. Epona simply snorted. Ilia showed a worried smile.

"...You better leave soon if you want to find her faster. And don't forget to keep a look out for Rusl, too!" She said, causing another nod from Link and Navi before commanding Epona forward. Truth was, she wanted them out enough before she changed her mind. Ilia and Uli watched as the horse disappeared with the courageous Ordonian. Navi clung onto his shoulder tightly; her light seemed dimmer in the sunlight. She looked up at her partner's face.

"...Are you sure you want to find her?" She asked, followed by a side glance from Link.

"...what happened to backing me up?" He asked, getting a better grip on the reigns.

"Well, we don't know what happened to her, where to start, or even why she attacked you..." Navi started.

Link sighed, all of that was true. He knows something had to have happened, something strange, but he has no clue of what it was. He assumed she was either in Hyrule fields already or maybe even the edge of the Faron forest. As for the reason she knocked him out cold and ran away...He had no idea. He shrugged, causing Navi to shift a bit to regain her grip on his tunic's sleeve, and the sound of hooves slightly changed as Epona galloped across the narrow bridge across the bottomless chasm.

The forest was silent; the only sounds were the chirping of the birds. The footsteps she took were not heard as she walked. Although she was used to the simple dress, the tight-fitted Sheikah outfit seemed natural already. The weapons hidden in the cloth and fabric, the bandages wrapped around her head, chest, arms, and legs, and her once free-flowing blonde hair in a braid all seemed natural, even if she barely remembers what is natural to her. She glanced around her surroundings through her long bangs, just seeing a bunch of trees and no exit from Faron Woods. She sighed, knowing that if she spent too much time looking for one exit, she'd most likely get caught.

_It's not like anyone is actually looking for me anyway, _She thought, remembering the act of betrayal she expressed. _Except for bulbins._ _And if I stay here too long they'll just return..._

She pushed her thoughts away and glanced around again, looking for something she missed. Her eyes set on a strangely familiar tree. She slowly approached it, wondering why it was so familiar, it was only a tree. Her eyes fell down on the large grey stone that rested against the plant. Without thinking, she dropped to her knees and sat on her legs before moving the stone to the side, revealing both dead and living grass that existed between the stone and tree. She brushed the grass aside with the rock, showing a hollowed hole in the tree. Even though the edge of the hole looked wore down by nature, the hallowed hole looked to her as if it were carved not by termites and age, but more like a blade, later attacked by the forces of nature. She blinked her scarlet eyes at the hole, staring at the inside of her discovery.

_How did I know this was here?_

The tree possessed a black cloth folded into a square. She unfolded the black cloth and revealed a silver line that gleamed in the sunlight. She lifted the line up, the chains clanged together as they made contact with each other. Skinny shining silver lines also existed on top of the black cloth, the sharpness of both ends of the lines were very noticeable on top of the dark background. The lines were in several clusters, most were nearly two inches long, the rest were a dangerous three inches, the sharpness even more noticeable. She flipped the cloth over, dumping the flat of the needles into the palm of her hand, not harming her and revealed silver stitching slightly decorating the cloth. The silver stitch work bordered the cloth; near the top was a small symbol about the size of her palm. The symbol almost looked like an eye, a teardrop-like shape under it. She glanced down at the front of her clothes, the same symbol was found.

She sighed, still more questions and little to no answers. More frustration than sanctuary. She quickly placed the dead grass and stone back where it was found; knowing if she stayed here too long someone would find her. That is, if the bulbins could be called a "someone", since that is all she expected to be looking for her.

With that thought, she quickly stood up, placing the needles into an unnoticeable pocket, and ran the way she was going, knowing she took longer getting through Faron Woods than she had planned.

* * *

_**Sorry this took me so long to put up. I actually thought I already posted this so I went ahead and started on the next chapter, until I realized that I didn't post this yet. ^^; my bad. Well, now the next chapter should come sooner. Now that I am over my writer's block for now...hopefully.**_

_**Well Sheik wasn't in the last chapter, so I made sure to put here in this one, since I do really like writing her parts. Link sets off on his journey, so this is where the fun starts! (for me at least.)**_

_**Well, feel free to review this and tell me what ya think. I do enjoy reading the reviews.**_

_**-MidnightTwi**_


	12. Chapter 12: The Journey Begins, Part II

Green grass and trees grew in the long south field of Hyrule, the sky a perfect blue color with a rarity of clouds, showing only the beauty to the world and not the dangers or darkness. Link halted Epona and glanced around the other directions, not including the way he just came. Navi flew off of his shoulder and freely flew slightly ahead of Epona, also looking around. She soon faced Link again, who was still looking with eyes in thought.

"Any idea where to start?" Link asked, pulling out a map from one of Epona's pockets. "Should we start at Lake Hylia?"

"Hmmmm..." Navi mumbled, continuing thinking while looking at the options. Epona sniffed the ground, pinching a handful of grass with her teeth and breaking it from the ground. The sound of her eating was the only noticeable sound as the Ordonian and his fairy thought. Epona soon sniffed the ground again, tapping her nose to a cold solid surface and flinched her head back before snorting at the object. Noticing the horse's sudden movement, Link looked down at the horse's feet, his eyes slightly widening as his bangs fell off of his forehead and slightly covered his eyes. A reflection of the sun lay, almost completely covered by grass and dust.

"Hey, Navi," Link said as he got down from his steed and picked the object up. Navi snapped out of her thoughts and flew beside his face. "What do you make of this?"

Navi examined the kunai, the edges were dangerously sharp and half of the weapon was covered in a green-tinted blood, the odd blood that immediately disgusted her. Her blueish light glowed off of the blood, now adding an ironic shine to the dark creature's body liquids, as she flew around the kunai a couple more times. She stopped back near Link's shoulder, flying an inch above her usual landing spot.

"That's hers, isn't it?" She asked, although she knew the question.

"It looks like there was a fight." Link stated, looking more toward the ground for clues. "Bulbins verses Sheik."

He continued looking at the evidence that was laid down. Some footprints were found in the dust, traces of ash covered the ground, and most of the "carcass" had been blown away by the wind. The monsters' footprints were most noticeable, human footprints were only visible every once in a while. He walked around the battlefield, eyes fixed on the ground for more clues as to what happened. Many questions rose up.

_What happened? Who won? Is she alright? If so, then where is she now?_

Greenish blood was spilt in numerous locations, camouflaged in the green grass. A few scattered arrows were laying around, all clean. No more kunai were found, the green-covered one was all that remained. No human blood was found anywhere. Link sighed as the puzzle pieces were set together in his mind. Navi remained in mid-air above his shoulder.

"She must've gotten into a fight with a few bulbins, she most likely won." He confirmed, allowing relief to Navi and more relief to himself by just hearing the news. "Actually I don't think she even got hit. And either she recycled the kunai she used or she used a different weapon...it makes no sense for even one bulbin to automatically die with one shot, unless it passed right through it, which is probably not the case considering this kunai isn't completely coated in blood."

"You're pretty good at this stuff!" Navi complemented. Link smiled as thanks.

He stepped back, hoping his observation and reasoning skills were right. But still one question remained.

_Where is she now?_

_Damn bulbins. _She thought as she leaned against the wall of a narrow path in what she assumed was the fields of Hyrule. _They were probably planning a sequel attack or ambush on Ordon...all to catch me._

She exhaled, allowing herself to relax for just a moment. A black cloak draped over her, hiding not only her whole body, but covered her face in shadows as well. Now that those bulbins were aware that she was no longer in Ordon, they should have left the village and forests alone, especially since she killed one and let the other live to give news to hike themselves out of Ordon. At least that's what she hoped. She shook her head slightly and stood straight up again, knowing she should just continue with the path she was on, wherever it lead. She kept at a walking pace, alert and ready for an attack at all times. Her eyes showed a warrior's gaze under the shadows, seemingly seeing everything around her, but still showed a slight emotion of fear. She looked ahead, seeing a tall stone building towering over everything, the same building that she saw while fleeing from the scene where she was attacked by a couple of bulbins near Faron Woods. She only assumed there was a civilization either living in or around the important-looking building as she changed her pace to a cross between a fast walk and a jog.

A few minutes later, she stood below the stone building that looked more intimidating in person. The building had little to no imperfections; the stones were a light shade of grey, no vines or moss to litter the color with the green she was somewhat used to. She continued examining the building; a slight noise came from the inside, most likely from a form of civilization, mixed with the slight sound of music. She spotted large wooden doors that most likely lead into the temple-castle-like building. She glanced behind her where she just came from. Minutes before she arrived to where she stood now, she figured that a tall building, whether civilized or not, was the best place to hide out from future bulbin attacks. Now, she wondered if she should just walk away.

She cursed in her head, hesitating to decide, her red eyes staring at the ground. She shook her head under the hood of the cloak before turning around, showing the small eye stitched on the back to the stones. She looked ahead at the narrow path, unsure what really to do. She cursed in her head again.

_What did I think, anyway? That I could just leave Ordon and be able to find my people just like that? _She thought, _I don't even know where to start. I don't even have a name._

A somewhat distant "Hello!" snapped her out of her thoughts. She turned her head toward the sound, keeping her eyes under her blonde bangs and the rest of her face under her scarf, hoping the shadows of the cloak hid her eyes if her hair failed. Through her bangs and shadows, she saw a boy with short chestnut brown hair with a seemingly redish tint and glasses sitting on top of the bridge of his nose come toward her, at that point he was a few yards away. His jacket's sleeves were rolled to his elbows, a large bow in the same blueish-black color hung near his neck on his chest. The collar of the jacket rose up to the height of his pointed ears, while his brown jeans stopped at his knees, the empty space from his knees to his shoes were filled in with patterned socks. He held a somewhat old-looking book in his hands.

He stopped in front of her and smiled at her.

"I apologize if I startled you, but you looked a little lost."

She took a breath before answering, choosing her words the best she could.

"No, I'm fine."

The boy seemed a little bit withdrawn once she spoke, but was able to keep his smile.

"Well, I just figured that I would help. I don't see many people around this entrance to Hyrule Town."

_Hyrule Town? _She thought, _that's probably the name of this place._

"Wait, I haven't seen you in Telma's...or around town for that fact." He looked deep in thought for a moment; Sheik braced herself to run if needed. "Are you new?"

She remained silent, not sure what would be the safe answer.

"May I have a name of some sort?" He asked. "A nickname would even do."

_A nickname,_ she thought.

The name she went by in Ordon may have felt right, but it was no known fact to be her real given name. But to use that name again, in a different town that she would soon leave, she was unsure to use it again. The stranger seemed to study her hesitation.

"It's alright if you are uncomfortable if giving me your name, I suppose it is a little creepy for me to show up here in the outskirts of Town like this. Any kind of name will do, really."

She inhaled before answering.

"The people I know call me...Sheik."

"Sheik, huh?" the stranger said, thinking over the name. "Short for 'Sheikah' maybe?"

Sheik's invisible eyes widened, continuing her brace to run if needed. This stranger could be anyone, any_thing_, and to know of a Sheikah could lead to anything as well. The boy quickly snapped out of his thoughts.

"Oh yes, forgive my manners." The boy said suddenly. "I'm a scholar. My name is Shad."

_A scholar? _She thought, allowing the need to run away to delay itself. _Maybe he would know something about the Sheikahs..._

"What...do you study?" She found herself asking. The boy named Shad automatically started beaming.

"I'm glad you asked! I study the history of Hyrule and lost, ancient, or mysterious races that we may have shared our land, or skies, with. Oh, are you studying the Sheikah race, or is that nickname just coincidence?"

She allowed herself to relax slightly. This scholar, Shad, did not know that she was a Sheikah herself, but just researched races like the Sheikah. So therefore it would be natural for him to get the original source Link got from the name Sheik when he thought of it. Shad took notes on the stranger that asked to be called Sheik. The stranger was covered in a black cloak, hiding every part of the body including the face. But the voice sounded female, and through the shadows that the hood casted, her face only showed from the cheeks down, her eyes were captured in the shadows.

"Yes, I do study the race of the Sheikah." Sheik answered. "Do you happen to know much about them?"

Shad nodded. "Yea, I have a few books that mention them. Would you like to take a look at them?"

* * *

**_I tried to make Shad as anti-OOC as possible, which is hard since he isn't a major character he doesn't get that much screen time for me to match him. So i'm not sure if I made him too polite or not polite enough, so i'd really like if you'd tell me your thoughts so i can improve or just leave it alone for the next chapter._**

**_What you choose is up to you, review or not._**

**_-MidnightTwi_**


	13. Chapter 13: Studying

It was probably due to the fact that it was still daylight outside why "Telma's Bar" was pretty much deserted. The only other ones in the bar were a rather busty barkeep who also owned the bar, a scrawny man in the corner with a white skin-tight suit and a red hat, and a white Persian cat that usually sat by the barkeep. The bar was somewhat in low light, but was still visible. A small stack of books were piled on the circular table near the back of the bar. Sheik scanned through the table of contents found on the first few pages of the book she held.

_Ancient Hylians and Modern-Day Hylians_  
_Sages: Protectors of Hyrule_  
_Gerudos: The Desert Flowers_  
_Zoras: A New Evolution_  
_Kokiri: Children of the Forest_  
_Gorons: Volcanic Rock People_  
_Sheikah: The Shadow Folk_

She stopped and flipped to the page of "The Shadow Folk" with her bandaged fingers. Shad returned and placed another book on top of the two other books that were already there. He pushed his glasses from the tip of his nose back onto the bridge, the light glaring off of the glass for a moment, to allow him to look through them. He showed a slight smile.

"It's quite exciting to find another lover of history." He said, "Most people don't show interest in Hyrule's history."

He continued taking mental notes on the stranger. A few strands of blonde hair revealed themselves as she looked down at the book, and her fingers were bandaged. The cloak she wore opened slightly as her arms revealed themselves out of the cloak, but only the elbow to the fingertips were visible, which the skin was hidden under a blue skin-tight sleeve, bandages around the cloth from her wrist to close to her elbow. A white scarf-like material peeked out of the hood, hiding her chin and neck. He still couldn't see much of her face through her bangs, the shadows, and the scarf around her neck. Her body was also hidden in the shadows of the cloak, as if she were a shadow herself.

"I only study the Sheikah Tribe." She said, keeping her finger on the beginning page of the Sheikah chapter and continued flipping through the pages until she found the end of the chapter soon after.

"Sorry to say, but there is very little information about their race." Shad said, motioning to the few pages pinched between her fingers.

She looked back at the first page of the chapter, where it told how to identify a Sheikah, red eyes, usually physically fit, pointed ears...not much separated them from Hylians. It informed of a bond between their tribe and the royal blood of Hyrule, only to be broken by an act of betrayal, resulting in the Sheikah Tribe being banished from Hyrule. Apparently they were welcomed back, where they continued standing by the royal family.

"They were very loyal." She said to herself.

"Yes, very much so. When they were banished, they let Hyrule have some of their artifacts to aid them." Shad informed. "And when they were welcomed back, they agreed to help and protect the royal family again. They were loyal to their allies."

_Loyal to their allies._ She thought._ I'm supposed to be one of them._

Shad suddenly jumped slightly, as if something had startled him.

"Oh, I'm taking up your time! You should study if you want to learn more facts about them, I'm mostly just knowledgeable on the Oocca race, so I know as much as the information from the Occoca gives me on the Sheikah race. I will leave you to the books." He said before walking out of the bar.

The barkeep giggled slightly as the door shut behind him before looking back at her.

"He gets a little excited about history. Sometimes he doesn't even realize that he was talking too much." She said, brushing back her red dreadlocks away from her tanned face and pulling down the edge of her shirt that had been buttoned just enough to show off her bust. "But he doesn't get the chance very often to meet someone studying in the field of history. I think you made his day. If you need a drink, you know who to talk to, honey."

Sheik smiled slightly, just enough to be seen, before turning her attention back to the book.

It was close to nightfall by the time she finished all of the books' chapters about her tribe. She sighed, absorbing the information she read and shutting the last book she needed to read before standing up and stretching. Shad walked through the door, slight panting.

"Thank Din I made it..." He sighed. Telma also sighed.

"You really tested your luck this time. Those nocturnal monsters come out the moment the sun sets."

Sheik glanced over at Telma and Shad, eavesdropping on their conversation, even though it wasn't that hard considering they were all in the same room.

"Yea...I know." Shad said, taking a deep breath.

"Nocturnal monsters?" Sheik asked.

Telma and Shad both looked over at her with confused faces.

"Yes, haven't you heard about the monsters that only come out at night? The good-for-nothing soldiers are too scared to do anything about them, I swear no one knows courage anymore..." Telma said. "If you don't have a place to stay, you can just rest here for the night."

"Ummm..."

"It's alright, honey. Not much happens here on weekdays. You might as well stay at least until tomorrow." Telma offered. "One night can't hurt."

_...I doubt the bulbins would be that close on my trail. And these night monsters wouldn't allow me peace either..._ She thought, glancing down. _Besides, I don't think there's any getting out of this._

She looked back up at Telma. Her kindness and offer of a place to stay reminded her of Uli in Ordon, and the way Shad asked for a name reminded her of the one who gave her "name" to her. She took a breath before answering.

"Alright," She accepted. "I appreciate it."

Link brushed his bangs out of his eyes and looked up at the darkening sky. He held onto Epona's reigns, using it like a leash to guide her behind him. Navi flew very close to the ground, her light shining brighter in the twilight, and also looked at the darkish blue sky. Sunset had passed, and as the very tip of the sun began to disappear, the world began to fade into darkness. The sun's glow lit up a few clouds that were nearby, making them a pinkish color as if an artist had painted them with great care, a small white dot appeared in the sky. Navi flew away from the ground and beside Link.

"It's getting dark, Link." She reminded him, looking up at the first star of nightfall.

"Yea, we should find a good place to set camp...I've heard rumors about night beasts that come out soon after the sun sets, so it'd be smart to find a place now before they rise."

"Or it could just be a rumor." Navi said as Link began to walk forward, leading Epona with him.

"I don't think I want to find out from a beast trying to eat me alive in the middle of the night." Link said, spotting a hole in the side of the cliff nearby where he was, in Hyrule Field. He walked toward the cave, Navi and Epona following behind. Navi's light illuminated the cave as if she were the best lantern ever made. After walking deeper into the cave, Link began to take the reigns off of Epona's bridle. He laid the leather strip beside him and started loosening the saddle so that he may take it off to allow her some comfort.

"This deep in, we shouldn't be spotted by whatever is out there." He said, taking off his hat and placing it over Navi, casting the scene into deep darkness, light still faintly showed through the fabric.

"Hey!" Navi said, lifting the side of the hat up so she could glare at Link. Link smiled innocently.

The cave ground wasn't as cold as he thought it would be. Sure, it wasn't warm either, but at least it was better than what he had expected. His arm was under his head, allowing it's use as a pillow, as he laid on his side. His brown boots and fingerless gloves lay beside the saddle that he used for Epona. His faintly glowing hat laid behind his head, and his horse was already asleep. His blue eyes were still open, thinking over what he planned on doing tomorrow. The light under his hat hadn't dimmed at all yet, which gave him a hint that his fairy was also still awake. He stared at the blackness that was the walls without light until he was allowed sleep.

The wall beside her allowed her to lean against it in her sitting position. She had her eyes closed, yet she wasn't asleep. She thought about the information she had learned about her tribe, their known skills, their relics, their memory, and their disappearance. She read that the Sheikah Tribe were great in combat, and even know magic. They were slightly advanced, their relics proved useful, even to a legend called "The Hero of Time". The books told of a relic known as a "Gossip Stone" which were able to tell time, that much is known. It also allowed information on after their banishment before Hyrule's legendary "Dark Years", how the princess of that time was given a bodyguard who was Sheikah, and at that point in time, it was believed her tribe was all dead. And a mention of the tribe Shad said he studied; the Oocca.

The Sheikah tribe disappeared quickly, it seemed. Sheik sighed, still not getting as many answers as she had hoped. But she knew where she must go when the sun rises again. The Sheikah Tribe was responsible for creating a small village they named Kakariko, which exists today.

_I'll head to the known Kakariko tomorrow,_ she thought. _Maybe, I'll find something._

* * *

**_Alright, I know this is a short chapter, but I can explain...I procrastinated (again.) ...writer's block (again.)...my mind kept wandering to my other Zelda fanfic that I am writing and to what I want to happen WAAAY far in the future for this one...and I planned to have this put up about a week ago while I was on Family Service vacation, but I didn't know that this website's Doc Manager wouldn't work on my mom's iPad...yes that was a fail, I realize that._**

**_And that's about it...review if you want, I do enjoy reading your comments._**

**_-MidnightTwi_**

**_P.S. Thank you for everyone who gave me their thoughts on how I wrote Shad during the last chapter, and please tell me if ANY character I write acts OOT at ANY point in time._**


	14. Chapter 14: Bar Rumors

"Ummm...Thanks for your hospitality." Sheik said, standing outside the door of Telma's Bar, cloaked in black.

The barkeep, Telma, stood in front of her, nodding. "Anytime, honey. You're a really interesting character."

Sheik stared at her through the shadows, finding it a little odd to say that about a stranger. Telma smiled at her, placing her hands on her hips.

"Well, now. The nocturnal monsters disappear as soon as the sun starts to rise, so they should all be gone by now. You just travel safe, alright?"

Sheik glanced up at the blue sky, the sun still a little low in the sky. The usually busy streets of Hyrule Town were quiet in the mornings, there was barely anything walking on the stone roads.

_It must be early for them...but this is the time people wake up in Ordon._ She thought before looking back at Telma, who might or might not have been running the bar all night, she didn't really know. There were no signs of fatigue on the barkeep's tan face. She continued to smile, the green, red, and blue jewels under her eyes looked like they had just been put on. Her red, dreadlocked hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Sheik nodded at her.

"I will." She lied.

Telma seemed to not detect the lie, she smiled a little bigger at Sheik. Sheik sighed, hating that she had to lie to someone who showed her much kindness.

"Hey, Navi," a voice called as a green hat was lifted off of a sleeping fairy. "Wake up, it's morning."

Navi looked up at her partner, his brown hair slightly messed and his blue eyes looking down at her. The horse in the background was already awake.

"...five more minutes..." The fairy said, hovering to a different sleeping position with her head facing the shadows of the cave, light radiating from her body. Link sighed, brushing his still ungloved hands through his hair. His horse snorted at him before knocking over his boots with her nose.

"Epona..." Link started, walking over to his steed and never finishing his sentence. He smoothed his hand over Epona's nose, feeling the soft fur on his palms. He looked at the palm of his left hand before flipping it over to where his birthmark existed.

_The more I look at this, the more I think it looks almost like the crest of Hyrule..._ He thought, staring at what appeared to be a tan triangle formed by three other triangles. He shook his head and brushed his left hand through his hair again. _No, that'd be weird._

He slipped his hands and arms into his brown fingerless gloves, grabbing his hat and placing it on his head before buckling his left glove tight.

"C'mon, Navi, wake up." He said as he began to buckle his belt, sheath and shield on.

"I'm up." Navi mumbled, not moving at all.

"Navi."

"Really, Link...I'm up." She said again, still refusing to move.

Epona softly whinnied at her as Link slipped on his brown boots. Navi ignored her, still in the same position. Link smiled and shook his head as he put the reigns back on Epona's bridle.

"Forget it, Epona. She's not going to listen."

"I said I was up..." Navi argued. "Alright, here."

Navi flew up in front of Link and circled around Epona's ears.

"See? I'm up."

Epona whinnied again as Link placed the saddle on her back, preparing to strap it all into place. Navi flew in circles, as if she were exercising her wings. The light was blinding as they exited the cave, Link shaded his eyes with one arm, looking out at the field of Hyrule and admiring the beauty, while in his other hand was Epona's reigns. Navi flew somewhat ahead of him, no longer seeming so bright in the sunlight of day.

"So..." The fairy started, looking around the field. "Where do we start?"

"Hyrule Town." Link replied, leading Epona further out into the sunlight before tugging on the stirrup, making sure the saddle was secure enough before mounting. Navi turned back to Link and waited a moment.

"Why are we going there?" She asked, flying up beside Link.

"I think that's where she would've headed first, the castle is visible as soon as you enter Hyrule Field, so it's the only place that promises safety." Link shrugged. "It's the only place I can really think where to start...we spent all day yesterday just looking for her tracks or remains and found nothing." He sighed, still glad that there was still a chance for her to be alive.

"I don't know...I don't think she would've headed straight to a big town..." Navi said as Link shrugged again.

"Well, we're close to the entrance of Hyrule Town anyway...It can't hurt to look."

Navi flew up and down slightly, giving the slight motion of a nod before quickly landing on Link's shoulder and holding onto his tunic as he commanded Epona forward. Soft gallops were heard as hooves pounded against the grass, slightly changing sound as it hit the dirt. Link glanced at the natural walls as he got closer and closer to the town of Hyrule, Epona galloped through a narrow path, a sign that the entrance to the town was close. The wind pushed Link's blonde-touched brown hair back, his hat blew along with it yet still stayed attached to his head. His beast-like blue eyes showed a determined expression as the sound of hooves pounding dirt changed to the sound of hooves clamping against stone. He leaned forward slightly as Epona ran up the smoothed slant that existed in the middle of the stairs that led to the entrance. He dismounted his horse, petting her neck as he looked up at the grey, almost white, stone walls that isolated Hyrule Town from the world.

His gaze dropped from the vanishing point of the walls to the oversized wooden doors that allowed him access. Navi flew off his shoulder as he walked to the doors, stopping to lift his hat up and allowing Navi to hide before setting his hat back on his head and walking into Hyrule Town. People walked around him as he made his way through the market street, the walls lined with booths selling many different things, fruit, vegetables, bread, flowers, and even a Goron selling healthy water that is said to come from their springs. He glanced around the people, deciding where to begin.

The sun was almost straight above Link as he slowly began to think Hyrule Town was a waste of time. No soldiers noticed anyone matching Sheik's description and no Hylians paid enough attention to spot a stranger. Link placed five rubees into the palm of the shopkeeper who in return allowed him an apple. The number of Hylians wandering the streets increased greatly as morning passed and noon neared, all of the faces mixed up in their own lives, none of which he recognized. He glanced over at the empty, slightly dark alley that led to a few stairs downward and into a bar. He sighed, taking a bite of his apple as he thought.

_Well, she's not here...but I guess I can make this _not _a complete waste of time._

Finishing his red apple, he tossed the core into the nearest trashcan before walking toward the one place he recognized _some_ people, and where he knew Rusl's group usually met. He glanced up at the sign "Telma's Bar" written in Hylian as he walked down the stairs and through the door. A Persian cat greeted him as he walked in, laying in a white ball on the wooden table nearest to the door. It looked up at him as he passed it, curious. The rather busty barkeep casually turned around as he walked up to the bar and smiled at her visitor.

"Link, it's a surprise seeing you here." She said, wiping a wet glass dry. "Here for a drink?"

"No thanks, Telma. I was just wondering if Rusl was back from Kakariko yet." Link said, sitting on the barstool across from the owner.

"Nope. I haven't seen him since he left." Telma replied shrugging as she placed the glass next to the other dry cups. "But I'm sure he's just fine, don't worry about him honey."

Link sighed, ignoring the use of "honey" and confirmed his thoughts on Hyrule Town being a waste of time. He felt a sudden excitement on his head, followed by a "Hey!" and lifted his hat up, allowing Navi to fly freely.

"Oh, hello Navi." Telma greeted. "I was starting to wonder where you were."

Navi greeted with a "Hello!" before turning back to Link, the light she gave off was more noticable in the dimly lit bar, lighting up the skin tone of Link's face. Link shrugged at his companion, as if completely reading her mind.

"I guess you were right, Navi. She didn't come here."

Telma tilted her head slightly, her dreadlocked ponytail swayed with her head. Her hands were on her almost bare hips, her expression was a mix of confusion and curiosity.

"Did you two come looking for someone?" She asked.

"Yea," Link replied, rubbing his hand through his hair before placing the green hat back onto his head. "Just a friend of mine."

"Do you think she'd go to Lake Hylia?" Navi asked, continuing their conversation.

"I don't know, I'm stumped." Link admitted with a look of defeat on his face.

"You know," Telma began, giving Link and Navi a wink. "I see a lot of faces in this bar of mine."

"Well, none of the soldiers saw her..." Link said, careful not to let his hopes rise.

"Oh please! Those soldiers are good for absolutely nothing!" Telma said, letting her disgust for Hyrule's guards known. "What'd your girlfriend look like, honey?"

Navi laughed silently as a blush crept across Link's face.

"She's...not my girlfriend." He stated, brushing his fingers through his bangs as he felt his face get warm.

"Right, of course." Telma said as Navi continued laughing. Link threw a glare at his fairy as Telma smiled. "I have seen a few new faces here and there...in fact, Shad brought over a girl who was interested in history yesterday. She stayed here overnight."

"Shad?" Link said in a questioning tone.

"Oh, you probably haven't met him yet, have you, honey? He's a scholar that is in the same freedom group as Rusl. He comes by pretty often, so you'll probably meet him sometime."

Link nodded as Telma thought over the stranger she had overnight.

"I forget the girl's name...but she spent all yesterday looking up one historical race that she was interested in..." She snapped her fingers. "The Sheikahs! That's what she was looking up!"

Link's eyes widened and his body froze. Navi flew in one single place, almost forgetting to flap her wings to remain in the air. They both stared at Telma, wondering if they heard her wrong. After a few moments, Link finally spoke up.

"The...Sheikah?" He repeated as Telma nodded.

"You know about them? If only you came sooner, she left just this morning... actually; she's so interested with history that she's nicknamed after it! Her nickname is..."

"Sheik?" Link asked somewhat loudly as Telma paused to think over the stranger's name. She stared at him in surprise and nodded. Link quickly stood up from the wooden barstool, looking at Telma with determined eyes and a risen hope.

"What did she look like? Was she blonde? What was she wearing? Were her eyes- OW!" Link rubbed his head where Navi hit him, stopping his excited rambling. Telma stared at him with widened eyes. She blinked a few times and changed her expression back to her usual calm and flirty personality.

"I told you I see a lot of new faces here. But I didn't get to see much of her face, she did a good job hiding that from me."

Link smiled and nodded.

"She hid her face? Yepp, that's Sheik." He said with a calmed, almost relieved look in his eyes. "Do you know where she was headed?"

"I think she left town out of the Eastern gate, in the direction of Kakariko."

Link nodded again before lifting up his hat, allowing Navi to seek shelter before running through the swallowing crowds again, and headed to the door. As he opened the door, he waved slightly back at Telma.

"Thanks Telma! This means a lot, really!"

"No problem, honey!" Telma managed to squeeze in before he was gone. She looked down calmly to her Persian cat. "I wonder what that was about?"

The white longhaired feline looked up at her with tired eyes before meowing and laying its head back down to rest.

Link sprinted past the Hylian faces he never knew, in no time he was beside his horse, panting. His eyes looked up to his hat.

"She apparently...left this morning..." He said through breaths. "If I go around through Kakariko...I'm sure to cut her off..."

He quickly mounted onto the saddle of Epona, turning her in the right direction before commanding her to run.

_I just hope I catch up to her before she's gone again..._

* * *

**_I know I've been very unactive for a while, sorry for that and thanks for being patient. At first I didn't write because I had writer's block, then I just got distracted with other people's fanfics and with DeviantArt. But here, I hope the fact that it's a longer chapter makes up for my absense._**

**_Thanks to those who reminded me of my inactivity, and also to those to were patient with me._**

**_Review if you wish. Reviews kind of remind me that I have a responsibility as a writer to fulfill._**

**_-MidnightTwi_**


	15. Chapter 15: Reunion

"Sorry, Epona." Link apologized, putting the outside of his left gloved wrist against the elbow of his right arm, pushing them both together to stretch. His brown horse simply looked at him and whinnied, her muzzle dripping with water, before going back to drinking from the nearby source of water. Link smiled at her before switching arms to stretch. A fairy flew around freely, flying from close to the ground to high in the sky. She took a mark on the sun, figuring it was still slightly the beginning of the afternoon.

_We've __made __some __good __time, __but __I __feel __sorry __for __Epona. __She __ran __faster __today __then __she __ever __would __have __to __herd __goats._

"Navi!" She heard her partner's voice call. She quickly flew down to him, stopping in front of his face. Link patted his shoulder. "We should get going."

Navi quickly clung to the green fabric of his tunic as he mounted onto Epona. Link pet the horse's soft neck in gratitude before commanding her deeper into the field. He would let his horse take a longer amount of time to relax, but he didn't want to lose his only hope of finding Sheik. He had no idea where she would be at this time, but he was hoping she would be safe, at least.

A metal chain was smacked into the green neck of another bulbin, spilling the eerie greenish blood and causing it to collapse; automatically it began to decompose into ash. She showed a slight look of disgust on her face before moving onto the last bulbin standing. Not only was the green blood abnormal and gross, but to decompose completely in a matter of seconds after death? That was disturbing. She was standing a few feet away from her next victim, but with a single swipe of a long chain, its metal spike found at the end of the seemingly random weapon found itself in the chest of the now dead bulbin, right where its heart should be, if it even possessed such an organ.

Sheik sighed as the black hood of her cloak fell to her shoulders, revealing a slightly messy braid and long blonde bangs. She looked over at the nearby pool of water, nearly full enough to reach her ankles, and swung her chain into it, washing away the blood it was coated with. The chain had proven itself useful ever since she had found it folded in the black cloak she now wore. Even though she expected bulbins would stand in her way, she was still surprised of how many there were. She was able to sneak past a couple of groups, hiding in the shadows and sometimes just walking a good distance away from them, as long as she had her hood up. Now, she could basically see the entrance path to Kakariko Village.

A faint sound crept its way across the fields and to her range. The familiar sound of hooves beating against the ground. She automatically turned in the direction it was originating from, and sure enough, in the distance was the silhouette of a rider on a large creature. Her eyes widened, her mind automatically reminding her of Link and his steed Epona. She pulled the chain out of the water, hiding it into her sleeve and pulled her hood back onto her head before running as fast as possible in the opposite direction of the hooves.

_Crap! __Crap! __CRAP!_ She thought, along with a few more colorful words. _Dammit! __What __is __he __doing __here?_

She quickly made her way across a stone pavement of sorts and to a small barrier of rock, standing as if something was built there but then torn down later. She jumped over it and a split second after landing she ducked and hid behind it, her back pressed against the stone.

The sound got closer and closer until they stopped not too far away from where she was before. She tried her hardest to control the volume of the breathing, careful not to tip Link off that she was there.

_Why __is __he __here? _She continued to ask herself. _He's __supposed __to __be __in __Ordon!__At __HOME!_ She cursed again in her head.

She heard the sound of footsteps step off of the saddle, indicating that he dismounted. A hoof scraped across the stone ground, sounding not too close, but at the same time, too close. She saw a shadow join her own, indicating that someone stood behind her. Sighing, she turned around to Link, knowing that she wouldn't be able to avoid him now. She gasped slightly as she looked into the evil beady eyes of yet another bulbin, and behind it stood an oversized boar with a saddle and bridal on it.

Definitely not Link.

Sheik quickly reached for the knife hidden in it's case in the arch of her back, only to feel a pair of hands grab onto her wrists and pull them away from her weapon, holding them together behind her back.

_When __was __there __two __of __them?_ She thought, struggling to break free with no success. The builbin in front of her jumped on top of the stone fence she was recently hiding behind, looking as if it had won the grand prize. She kept her head down, hiding underneath the black hood and behind the blonde hair. She felt the hood being yanked off of her head, and she still kept her head down until she was forced up when the builbin her grabbed onto the start of her braid closest to her scalp and pulled back forced her to look up. The builbin was downright pleased with himself when he saw the very much angry red gaze of the Sheikah. It called out to his partner holding her wrists in its unknown language, and the builbin behind her responded as her hair was released.

She proceeded to look at the stone ground. She needed a way out and fast. The builbin behind her started wrapping her wrists together with rope, preparing to take her to wherever they needed her to be. They weren't about to let her get away, keeping a close eye on her just in case. She sighed. What she really needed was a distraction.

A distant "hyah!" and the sound of hooves pounding rapidly closer seemed to answer her thoughts for a call for help. Both builbins looked up away from her, looking at what she figured was their back-up.

Acting quickly, she kicked the builbin in front of her in the back of the head and without giving anything any time to react, made a backwards somersault over the builbin behind her, forcing its grip to lose. She quickly stood up, the hood of the cloak falling partially onto her head again from the backwards somersault, and tried squeezing her wrists out of the bonds behind her to no avail. She heard the approaching hooves come to a halt, and she looked up to see how many builbins were around now just in time to see a silver blade cut through the leathery skin of the builbin that was holding her wrists earlier. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise at the sight of the blade which had moved into the skull of the other builbin, ending it.

_What __in __Din's __name __just __happened?_ She wondered, looking down at the bodies of the builbins.

"Hey, are you ok?" An all too familiar voice said in concern.

She looked up at the wielder of the blade, and her hood fell off of her head as she did. Scarlet met cerulean, both eyes widened.

"Sheik?" Link asked, taking a step closer. "I almost didn't recognize you."

"Wh-What are you doing here Link?" Sheik asked, taking a half-step back.

"Well just a few seconds ago, saving you from being taken prisoner."

"Go home." Sheik said almost coldly. "You need to protect the village."

Link glared at her as she spoke.

"What do you think I'm trying to do? You're part of the village now too, you know."

Sheik glanced away, not wanting to meet his eyes again.

_Not __if __I'm __endangering __it, __I'm __not._

"Go home, Link." She said again, turning around and beginning to walk away while mumbling "I have something I need to do."

She felt Link grab onto her arm, stopping her from going any further.

"Wait," He said quickly, almost in a panic. She turned to face him as he held his sword into view. "Don't you need help getting out of those ropes?"

She sighed, dreading knowing he was right. Without needing a spoken answer, he smiled and put the blade to the ropes, severing them apart while missing the skin on her arms. She pulled her arms back in front of her, rubbing where the ropes once were before walking forward again. Link's smile dropped and he looked at her back with shock.

"W-Wait! Just tell me what's going on with you!"

"It's nothing." Sheik lied, walking past the giant boar that the builbins rode on.

The giant creature hoofed at the ground before shaking the dust off of its hide, glancing at her with it's black dead eyes. She watched the creature as it passed, hearing Link's voice and complaints behind her. The animal seemed...familiar to her. Without warning, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in the front of her head, seeing seemingly random flashes of builbins riding on those large creatures, weilding clubs and arrows. The world swam around her, the heat of the sun suddenly becoming increasingly too hot to handle, and she couldn't even hear Link's voice over the battle cries she heard as she watched a battle of people, all with red eyes, fighting builbins and other demonic monsters. She felt herself fall for a split second, never feeling the ground hit her. Her vision turned black as she heard a distant, echo-y cry of her name.

_The __small __wooden __town __was __peaceful. __A __few __Sheikahs __sparred __each __other, all __in __their __middle-age, __to __the __side, __an __elderly __short __woman __spoke __to __another __middle-aged __woman. __Sheik __was __sharpening __her __weapons __with __a __rock at the time, __sitting __away __from __the __other __warriors. __Everyone __else __seemed __to __just __go __on __their __own __life. __Their __little __tribe __had __survived __a __lot, __but __it __only __takes __one __battle __to __end __that. __Out __of __nowhere, __an __arrow __struck __a __middle-aged, __almost __considered __elderly, __man, __causing __him __to __cry __in __pain __as __he __fell. __The __rest __of __the __tribe __quickly __set __up __their __defenses __as __a __couple __of __men __dragged __the __wounded __man __into __shelter. __Everyone's __eyes __were __on __the __entrance, __waiting, __wondering __what __unwanted __guests __were __going __to __enter. __The __heavy __thud __of __hooves __slowly __made __it's __way __to __the __crowd, __a __giant __boar-like __creature decorated in thick, shiny armor __walked __into __sight __with __a __large, __over-weight __monster __sitting __on __top. __It's __green __skin was covered in a suit of armor, it's chubby face poking out of the helmet, showing a toothy (not that he had very many) smile. Sheik stood up, looking at the monster with curoisity, wondering why he had disrupted their peace. Suddenly, the overweight monster lifted his large staff in the air, shouting a battle cry. At his signal, multiple builbins much smaller than himself ran from behind him, shouting what seemed to be a battle cry in their odd language before charging at her people with weapons. Her people quickly responded the same way, with war. She quickly joined in, anything to help her people win this sudden battle. The middle-aged woman who was talking with the elderly woman earlier joined her side, fighting the monsters behind her to keep them both safe from surprize attacks._

_Within a few hours, multiple Sheikahs laid dead or severely injured. She dodged as the arrows whooshed past her, one of the last fraction of her people left standing. She yanked out an arrow that somehow got stuck in her braid, and suddenly was pushed away by the woman who was fighting by her side. She looked up, within the shadows seeing the muscular yet busty build of the woman's body, her silver hair pulled back in a bun or a wolf-tail-like ponytail. She had tattoos under her eyes, and on the tight-fitted, slightly revealing outfit she wore, a red eye symbol of the Sheikah tribe was shown._

_Like a missing peice of a puzzle, she suddenly was able to figure who this woman was, almost like she knew all along._

_"Get out of here!" Impa, her old friend, yelled, deflecting an arrow skillfully with only a kunai._

_"Sheik!" Another voice called as the scene melted into darkness_

_"Sheik,__Wa_ke up!" The voice called again, this time closer and more recognizable. "C'mon, I just found you, now wake up!"

Link was almost panicked, here he was trying to connect with the girl he traveled through the fields of Hyrule for, and suddenly she falls to the ground unconscious. What was he supposed to do about that? He looked down at the Sheikah in his arms, the scarf had fallen off of her chin and now showed her whole face, her skin was slightly paler than usual, but was regaining color with time. The bandages that were supposed to be wrapped around her head were loose and almost completely fallen off, her braid was also loose. The black cloak, something he had never seen on her, was pinned together around her neck, draping down over his legs. He shook her shoulder again, hoping for any signs of waking up.

"Wake up, for the love of Nayru!"

He waited again, holding his breath subconsciously until the warrior in his arms sleepily opened her eyes. He exhaled silently; his fairy flew between them, asking a question they were all wondering.

"What happened? Sheik, are you alright?"

Sheik quietly put the palm of her hand to her forehead, right where the pain struck that sent her on that flashback. Her skin was slightly warmer than usual, and her hands slightly trembled, but it was a small price to pay for the reason she lived on. She remembered something, although small, but it felt as if she finally had hoped to remember herself. Link arched an eyebrow, looking at the calm look in her eyes. It was different then what he saw before, at the village her eyes were calm, expressionless, and almost sad to look at. Before she left, as she smacked the handle of her kunai into his skull, her eyes were confused, frightened, and showed sadness. Now, it was like she had found something she had lost.

_Did __she __remember __something?_ He thought as she lowered her hand from her head.

"Sheik?" He asked, getting her attention. She looked up at him, as if she had just noticed he was there. She glanced around before looking downward with a light tint of pink in her cheeks, now that he could see the rest of her face with her scarf down. He tilted his head, confused as to why she was acting shy all of a sudden. Navi started giggling silently, and that's when Link remembered that he was sitting cross-legged, holding her in his lap with her head extremely close to laying on his shoulder, her legs stretched over his knee as he held her back up with an arm. His face turned red, and he let go of his grip so she could get up. Navi's giggles became more audible, each laugh sounding like little bells. After Sheik got out of his lap, he quickly stood up, desperately trying to get his temperature back down.

"Umm...S-Sorry!" Was the best thing he could come up with at that time. Sheik began to walk away like before, but stopped after a few steps.

"Why are you here, anyway?" She asked, looking over her shoulder at him, her skin color back to normal.

"...I was trying to find you. You ran away so soon that no one could find out why you left...not to mention you have some explaining to do for the knot I had in the back of my head!"

She stared at him for a short amount of time before sighing, considering actually telling him what everything was about. But she couldn't guarantee herself that he'd want anything to do with her after she told him, and he might just want to get rid of her. Which, she supposed, was for the best of both of them. She suddenly felt a powerful nudge on her shoulder; she took a step to avoid falling. Looking back, she met the blackish brown eyes of Epona. She looked at Sheik gently before pressing her nose against her again. Sheik held up a hand and Epona touched it with her nose as her own little symbol of trust. Sheik looked at her sadly as she stroked the soft peach-fuzz that grew on her muzzle.

_How __is __it __you __still __trust __me, __after __seeing __what __I __did __to __your __master?_ Sheik wondered, looking into her deep dark brown eyes.

"Epona missed you, ya know." Link said casually and almost nonchalantly. "You know, I think riding her will make her feel better."

Sheik rolled her eyes.

"Are you still obsessed with that?"

Link laughed slightly, slightly shrugging, his body motions seemed to say "Just Saying" for him. He smiled as a familiar feeling returned.

_Just __like __old __times..._

* * *

**_Alright, next chapter is up! Sorry bout the wait (again), my computer was and still is being difficult, plu swriters block. But the gang is back together, and Sheik finally remembers stuff! :D_**

**_But where is Impa now? Is Link going to keep following Sheik? Will Sheik ever ride Epona? Why are the bulbins after Sheik? How will you handle the suspense? Why am i asking you questions you might be asking yourself?_**

**_Well, you'll have to wait til the next chapter! _**

**_Review if you want to tell me what you think._**

**_-MidnightTwi_**


	16. Chapter 16: Questioning

The gentle wind traveled through Hyrule, blonde hair moved along with it, following the wind's pattern. Link's head was tilted down, seemingly finding interest in the ground as he sat on what was left of the stone structure. His blue eyes hid themselves behind his curtain of bangs, fixed on the teen girl beside him. Sheik worked her fingers through the cloth that held her now unneat braid together, her own eyes looking at anywhere but him. Navi flew between the two friends, sighing in boredom before flying beside Sheik.

"It's really good to see you in one peice!" Navi began cheerily, unable to stand the silence. "Everyone in Ordon has been worried sick!"

Link could've sworn he saw a glint of guilt in the she-warrior's eyes as she yanked the hair tie cloth free from her hair.

"Yea, especially with the random surplus of bulbins around Hyrule." He added, pulling a friendly smile.

Sheik continued to gaze away, unweaving what was left of her braid, the cloth bandages already fallen from it's usual spot ontop of her head.

_What the Farore is he doing here, anyway?_ She wondered, _Why did he waste his time looking for me, after what I did and after endangering his home?_

Link watched, using the hidden eyes technique he adapted from a certain Sheikah, as she successfully undid all of her braid, her now free darkish golden locks falling around her shoulder. She brushed a hand through it, excess hair that had been pulled from her scalp in the last fight flying away in the wind, forgotten, by her at least. Link watched as they flew away out of sight, a slight hatred forming in his heart.

_Damn bulbins. What did they hope to accomplish by hurting Sheik?_ He quickly ditched the emotion, wondering when he had become so protective, and turned back to Sheik. _It is almost weird to see her in her Sheikah warrior uniform thing again._ He remembered the borrowed Ordon dress he had grown used to. _But she looks good in it, I guess._

He sighed loudly, catching Sheik, Navi, and Epona's attention. Epona, however, quickly went back to snacking on the grass that had grown through the cracks in the pavement.

"I'd hate to question you right after finding you, but why did you run away so suddenly?" He asked, causing the Sheikah's warm gaze to fall once again to the ground.

Her mind sent many questions through her brain at once. _What should I tell him? What should i leave out? If I tell him that I might have caused the bulbin invasion, would he be mad? If I-_

A cautious "Sheik?" pulled her out of her thoughts. Link looked at her closely. "Are you ok? You're not going to faint again, are you?"

"No I'm fine." Sheik responded in an emotionless tone.

_What a waste, to worry about me._

Link waited a moment before asking the question again, incase she had forgotten about it already. She simply shrugged and Link narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not letting you out of the question this easily." he warned. "C'mon you can trust me!"

_Trust_. Yes she trusted him. _And for some reason, he trusts me too._

Sheik glanced at Link slightly before sighing, questioning if she was making the right move this time. And so what if it made Link mad? At least then Link would saddle up and go home where he should be.

"It's a short but confusing story." She warned, causing Link to rejoice in his head.

"I'm ok with that."

"Will you be?"

Link raised an eyebrow at her mumbled question, but made no comment to distract her. Navi landed on Link's shoulder, resting while Sheik told her tale.

* * *

_**First, I would like to apoligize for any typos, mispellings, or wrong definitions used in this chapter. My computer crashed over December and mother has yet to install Microsoft Word, which is the only editor I've used this whole time. So now, you guys will have to function as my editor! Hurrah for you. I originally was ganna make this chapter longer but I got impatient.**_

_**Now, I would put in this long story why I took so long to post again, but I'm tired of doing that so I'll cut to the chase. ahem...I lost motivation.**_

_**But I found it on my birthday on Jan 24 and realized...I'm a 16 year old teen girl who has lost the only life she had. So, I returned to my "life" which consisted of DA and Fanfics.**_

_**Well, in case ya'll were wondering (which I'm sure you weren't) I passed my driver's test (i only missed 6 points out of 35 SUCK IT!).**_

_**Wellp, if you find any mistakes please tell me of them.**_

_**-MidnightTwi**_


	17. Chapter 17: Linked Together

"WHAT?!"

Sheik sighed as Link stood up in shock of the story he was just told. His blue eyes stared at her in disbelief. Navi quickly flew off of his shoulder before she fell off in his sudden movement, and even Epona raised her head and twitched her pointed ears forward at her master's outburt. Sheik met his eyes for a moment before choosing to look at the ground.

_Of course he's mad. I endangered his home..._ She closed her eyes, waiting for what Link chose to say next. _At least now he'll leave._

"They're all after you?" Link asked, wondering if he heard her story wrong. A nod confirmed the answer.

_Here it comes..._ Sheik warned herself.

"What were you thinking?!" Link blurted out, causing Sheik to return her attention to him with a confused gaze. "You knew they were after you and you ran away all on your own! I know you're strong but there are more Bulbins out here than what were in Ordon! And they're all after you."

Sheik blinked a few times, meeting his eyes with confusion that had been unchanged since his outburst. The wind blew through her now undone hair, causing more movement in her scalp that she had yet to get used to. She slowly sighed, figuring that Link didn't comprehend her problem.

"What happened in Ordon was because of me. These monsters are looking for me and they wont spare lives to accomplish their mission. They'll burn down a whole town if they have to."

"How do you know that they might be that evil?" Link asked, raising an eyebrow and ignoring the impulse to give into frustration. Sheik sighed before answering.

"I've seen it." She stated simply. Now it was Link's turn to blink in surprise as Navi came into the conversation.

"What do you mean?" The fairy asked quietly, seeing the darkness of a tragic memory in the blood pools of Sheik's eyes. "You've regain your memories?"

Sheik shook her head. _That'd be too easy,_ she thought. Link sat back down beside her, but Navi refused to sit on his shoulder like she always does. Navi's light seemed dimmer in the dark mood they sat in, even the horse's dark eyes seemed to turn pitch.

"I haven't remembered everything, or anything that would help decide where my home is...but of the things I do remember makes me believe I no longer have a home." Sheik said emotionless. Navi appeared to have skipped a beat of her rythmic wings as realization swept over.

"Those bulbins destoryed your home?"

Link quickly looked over at Sheik, unable to remember when he started looking at the ground, and his eyes widened when she nodded with a serious look in her eyes. His hatred for those monsters increased tenfold as he found himself imagining what it would be like to realize your home was gone. He knew that if anything happened to any one person in Ordon, his life would be in complete depression. If his whole home was gone...well he couldn't even decide what he'd do next. Ordon held none of his family, whose whereabouts was never solved, but the people that took him in were the ones that became his family. Uli quickly became his mother when he was first found in the woods too many years ago for him to remember. To this day she continues to care for him and offer advice like a mother would. He looked up to Rusl as if he were his dad. He practically begged Rusl to teach him the way of the sword, and he finally cracked a few years before a boy was supposed to learn to fight. Colin looked up to him like a younger brother would to his older brother, always curious as to what Link did and such. Even the other families became sort of aunts and uncles to him, all united by the little boy they found in the woods. If all of that were to vanish someday...

_I'd hardly have anything left to hold on to._ Link thought.

With that fact, Link found himself admiring Sheik even more. She woke up with no memory, but even in her injured state she remained strong. She seemed to have discovered her home's fate in Ordon and that's why, Link assumed, she left. But with this new information, she stayed strong while Link got depressed just thinking about the tragedy.

"But you didn't have to go alone." He said, mimicing Sheik's well-perfected emotionless tone. Sheik looked at him, keeping silent as a sign for him to continue. "This isn't something one can handle on their own. I would've helped you."

"...You're such a hypocrite."

"What?" Link asked as Sheik smirked slightly.

"Back in Ordon when we were ambushed by bulbins, you refused my help." She stated simply.

Link sighed at the memory. _She has a point._

"Well, I didn't know how capable you are. But that doesn't mean you're capable of taking on an entire army on your own." He pointed out. "Why didn't you tell me what was going on instead of running away?"

Sheik sighed, unable to ignore the fact for long. "I wasn't about to let Ordon become a pile of rubble, and I wasn't about to drag you down with me."

Link smiled his trademark heroic smile, and just from his expression Navi caught onto his thoughts and seemed a little more excited. Epona walked over and tapped her nose on Sheik's leg, also counting herself in.

"Well, consider me dragged down." Link said with no sign of ever changing his mind and before Sheik could question why, he continued. "Until you're returned to your people, and until your memory returns to you, you are officially an Ordonain. And every Ordonian has to look out for each other, it's an unspoken but strict rule."

"Did you listen to anything I said?" Sheik asked, arching an eyebrow. "My home is destroyed."

"That doesn't mean your people are, too." Navi countered. "Besides, it's got to get lonely out here on your own."

Sheik sighed, knowing that they were going to follow her whether she liked it or not. Epona tapped her back, turning her attention on the horse.

"We aren't the only ones who were worried about you." Link informed. "Uli, Ilia, Colin, everyone has been worried. Besides, I kind of promised Uli I'd look for Rusl. According to Telma, he hasn't come back from Kakariko yet..."

_So thats how he found me._ Sheik figured.

"So I guess we're both going to Kakariko then." She said.

"Why do you need to go there?" Navi asked before Link could.

"The Sheikah once built a town called Kakariko."

"So maybe we'll find some clues there!" Link exclaimed as Sheik nodded, already assuming that.

Link stood up and grabbed Epona's reigns, looking over at Sheik. "Well, we're not going to let you go on your own, so you'll have to ride Epona with us!" He was determined to get her on that horse, still unable to understand why one wouldn't want to ride Epona.

"Actually, Link, I think Epona is kind of tired." Navi informed. "She ran all the way across Hyrule fields to get here. We should get let her walk for once."

Link quickly bowed his head in depression. "Dammit, Navi why do you have to rain on my parade?"

Sheik just rolled her eyes at Link's childish behavior. _I suppose I'm stuck with them. _She thought, looking ahead to Kakariko, and smirking when she overheard Link attempting to bargain with Epona to allow one more ride in which Navi quickly scolded him. _But I guess I can't really complain._

_**Hey guys! … ***__**crickets**__*** Yeah, I really have no excuse this time. Sorry I kind of ignored the story.**_

_**Anyway, I didn't put this chapter through as much editing as I usually do so if I have any major errors please let me know so I can fix it.**_

_**Look! The gang's back together again! How long will this last? Huehuehuehue**_

_**Reviews are appreciated!**_

_**-MidnightTwi**_


End file.
